Painter Of The Night: Baek Na-Kyum’s mouth 💋📣

October 4, 2020August 22, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 5 Comments

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents: https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/

Since I spent so much time on the analysis “Conscious versus unconscious, part 1”, I decided to write something quite short so that I can rest and gather some strength for the second part which will be long in my opinion. That’s why in this essay, I’ll focus on different scenes from the first and second season where the protagonists’ hand and mouth played a huge role. Consequently we can observe the characters’ progression and determine the nature of Baek Na-Kyum’s mouth and its relationship to Yoon Seungho’s hand.

First, I would like to compare both slaps. (chapter 11) (chapter 53). Notice that although these drawings are illustrating the same gesture, the perspective diverges. In the first one, the focus is on the lord, while in the second, the recipient of the slap is in the center. Why did Byeonduck switch the perspective? I could use my earlier explanation that in chapter 53, the creator wanted to let the noble appear as a vengeful ghost and not as a human. However, there exist other explications.

First, the change of perspective reflects the evolution of Yoon Seungho’s personality. In chapter 11, he was acting on his own negative emotions hence we could judge him as self-centered and selfish. His anger was triggered by the ruined painting and the painter’s words hence with his slap, he wanted to shut his mouth. He refused the artist’s point. He didn’t pay attention to the artist’s feelings. On the other hand, in chapter 53, the noble has already put the painter as his first priority because he is acting on the artist’s behalf. With the change of the perspective, it helps the readers to feel the lord’s heartache, when he realizes what he has just done. He hurt the servant because he disliked seeing Baek Na-Kyum mistreated and insulted, yet the latter got hurt. That’s why the author zooms on the lord’s gaze, the moment he witnesses the result of his action. (chapter 53) The gaze, the mirror of his soul, reveals his shock and agony. The hand hurt the loved one, although it was meant to defend him. At the same time, by putting the painter in the center of the drawing, the author enhances the painter’s bravery. (chapter 53) Just like in the past, he is willing to get hurt if he can protect someone, although the readers are well aware that neither Deok-Jae nor Jung In-Hun deserves such generosity as they have been acting against the main lead behind his back. Notice that during the thrashing, the painter kept asking the lord to stop but the latter had become deaf due to the immense fury he felt before he intervened. His inner emotions were more important that the words coming from the painter’s mouth. The lord could only hear the painter’s words after the warm embrace.

But let’s go back to the comparison. There is another huge difference between the two slaps. This time, the low-born is anticipating to receive the slap, while in the past, he had no idea that his behavior would trigger such a fury. Whereas in chapter 11, due to the perspective, the lord appeared more cruel and selfish, it also intensified his rage and pain. People could feel his immense anger, his unconscious decided to unleash his deeply repressed emotions. That’s why the hand is not visible in this panel but his gaze and face. The hand betrays his inner emotions, but the eyes mirrors his feelings. We have to imagine that until chapter 49, the lord lived as a ghost therefore he repressed all his emotions. That’s why he was so indifferent to people and kept smoking while watching through the window. He was so detached from the world, because he had been controlling his heart all this time. His mind never allowed his heart to feel anything and to express any emotions. The smoke kept his hands and lips busy. That’s the reason why Jihwa could never win the lord’s heart in the end. Yoon Seungho’s mind had decided to keep his distance from anyone, even from his childhood friend.

Now, I’ll compare the meal shared between Baek Na-Kyum and Yoon Seungho. Yes, in the second season, we have a new version of a shared meal. Now, you might wonder where it occurred during the first season: it’s in chapter 23!!

(chapter 23) Note that here the lord is taking away the apple from the painter. He’s eating his frugal meal. Furthermore he stands above him and his gestures clearly indicate that he has been following and observing the artist before eating his fruit. Here, he appears as selfish and self-centered. He takes without asking. This stands so much in opposition to the shared meal in chapter 47. (chapter 47) This time, the roles are switched, the aristocrat is willing to renounce to his own meal. Besides, he is also giving up on his own seat to Baek Na-Kyum. In other words, the latter is now the one standing above the aristocrat because it was as if he had become the master, since he is sitting on the lord’s seat. Even the noble reminds him to remain seated so that he can keep eating. This contrast emphasizes so much the powerful protagonist’s huge transformation. He is selfless, benevolent and really caring.

On the other hand, the comparison illustrates the growing closeness between the two figures. Whereas in the chapter 23, he bites in the apple where the low-born bit the fruit, in chapter 47, he puts his finger directly in the painter’s mouth. (chapter 47) Now, there is a direct contact between them. One might argue that this is related to their sex sessions, which is true. However, let’s not forget that the unconscious is voicing itself through the hands, hence despite the experienced intimacy, his unconscious is still unsatisfied. Therefore in chapter 47, the hand feels the need to touch his mouth. Sure, someone might say that he wants to ensure that the painter is not hurt. However, he could have used his eyes and just look at the mouth. That’s the reason why I feel that the gesture was revealing something else. The hand is expecting something from the mouth! Deep down, the lord is wishing to hear something from the painter but nothing has happened so far. At the same time, observe that the lord is smoking right after. It was as if this gesture (caressing the low-born’s mouth) had bothered him so much that his mind decided to control the hand again. Consequently he starts smoking. He needs to act as if he was indifferent. This explains why right after his mouth is revealing the thoughts of the mind: . The smoke is helping him to calm down and control his emotions, yet the mouth can no longer mask the influence of the unconscious because of the choice of words. As you can detect, the use of the smoke is no longer effective. Notice that “hurt, “embrace” belong to the vocabulary field of emotions. So the mouth is not truly rationale. As a conclusion, the mouth is revealing little by little the truth. Furthermore, the hand displays a certain longing: the lord’s unconscious is expecting to hear something from the painter’s mouth. What is it exactly?

In order to understand the new discovery, it is important to remember the analysis “Conscience versus unconscience” where I explained the function of the mouth concerning Yoon Seungho, The mouth embodies the mind and as such the conscious. On the other hand, the lord’s hand is acting on the order of the unconscious. Now, I would like you to pay attention to the following pictures: (chapter 11)(chapter 12)(chapter 26)(chapter 31)

(episode 48)

What do these pictures have in common? The lord’s hand and the painter’s mouth. Yoon Seungho’s hand is always close to the Baek Na-Kyum’s mouth. If you pay attention, you’ll detect that his hand is slowly moving away from the artist’s mouth. While in chapter 11 and 26, he covered it up with his hand as he couldn’t bear hearing the truth, little by little, the hand is moving away from the artist’s mouth so that in chapter 48, the hand is now more on the throat than on the mouth. This illustrates that the lord has slowly got used to the painter’s mouth and as such his words. He could slowly get used to the low-born’s honesty and sincerity. This explicates why the master is more and more caring towards the painter. Yet, in chapter 47, his mind didn’t allow his mouth to become emotional and confess his love to the painter.

I could have picked more of these images, yet I feel with this high amount of drawings it is enough to confirm my observation. Nevertheless notice that in chapter 12, Yoon Seungho’s hand is caressing the painter’s lips and as such the mouth. This drawing is important as it reveals that his unconscious is treasuring the artist’s mouth and lips. This explains why he kisses the painter more and more. The painter’s mouth and as such his lips are so precious to him, although Baek Na-Kyum’s mouth keeps hurting him with his words. Why? From my point of view, his eyes noticed the honesty in the painter’s face, despite the lie he told him during their first meeting. For the first time, his gaze met someone so transparent and honest, hence he could only treasure him and his mouth. Since I have already stipulated that Baek Na-Kyum serves as a mirror, then I have come to the following conclusion:

Baek Na-Kyum is the mirror of the truth and his mouth reveals the truth.

Remember two things. The mirror has the following functions:

to perceive his true self and personality;
to predict the future
to reveal the past
reveal desires and illusions
beauty, vanity and superficiality
truth, reality and as such wisdom

The first purpose of the mirror is visible during the sex marathon. Here, the painter is confronted with his true identity. Then we have in chapter 28 the vision in the mirror reflecting the artist’s deepest desires and the future. With Jiwha, the author used the mirror as an illustration for beauty, vanity and superficiality (chapter 3 and 41). And now, Baek Na-Kyum is the mirror of the truth and brutal honesty, just like in the fairy tale Snow White. Remember how the Queen reacted to the reality. She tried to kill her rival but she never destroyed the mirror as she treasured it. We could say that Yoon Seungho is acting like the Queen from Snow White, but unlike in the fairy tale, the rival is Jung In-Hun, a vicious and double-faced man. Despite the heartache, the master is hoping to hear something positive, something about himself and about the painter. If the latter confesses to him, the lord will be able to love himself. As long as the artist views him as a man consumed by lust, he can only see himself as such and detest his own image. Just like the Queen in Snow White, the protagonist keeps asking the commoner and each time the “mirror” keeps rejecting him: But the painter’s mouth is telling the brutal truth. The lord has never confessed to him hence it is a lie that Yoon Seungho loves him. At some point, the Queen gets defeated by Snow White, however I am not expecting the same ending here. The lord will be forced to confess. He has to be reveal his true emotions if he wants to hear a love confession from the artist. We shouldn’t forget that the artist works as a mirror. The moment Yoon Seungho declares his affection to the painter, the latter will reciprocate his feelings because he will mirror his emotions.

My readers might have not forgotten that I often wrote that the painter was brutally honest, especially at the pavilion (chapter 25) and in that bathroom. Each time, he spoke, his sincerity hurt the lord. With his words, the artist confronted Yoon Seungho with reality. The lord could no longer lie to the painter and to himself: the love confession was addressed to someone else and he knew that. I could even say that the slap in chapter 11 was a violent reaction because with the ruined paintings and with his words (refusal of working for him), he had rejected Yoon Seungho which the unconscious could not accept. Hence the constant rejection was always very painful for the lord, the painter’s mouth kept wounding his heart, the unconscious, since the conscious was denying the existence of any feeling. Baek Na-Kyum’s mouth is the mirror of the truth. The lord’s conscious has to accept the crude honesty: he is in love with Baek Na-Kyum. As long as he continues denying it, his unconscious and heart will always be wounded by the painter’s mouth. That’s why he needs to stop denying this. Simultaneously, this explains why the artist’s mouth has a calming effect in chapter 53 . For the first time, the painter’s mouth is showing concern and care. There is no rejection, the artist’s voice and words let transpire feelings which the unconscious has been longing for a very long time. That’s why in that moment, the lord can’t help touching the painter’s cheek and white head-band. The unconscious has finally received something it had been longing: acceptance and warmth. But this is just a brief victory as the moment is ruined by Min’s appearance. However, through this examination, it became obvious that Yoon Seungho needed to confess first. And this observation was proven correct. Yoon Seungho admitted his attachment to the painter in chapter 55.

Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My Reddit-Instagram-Tumblr-Twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and for the support, particularly, I would like to thank all the new followers and people recommending my blog.

Protected: Painter Of The Night: Dignity (second version)

August 17, 2020August 22, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33

Painter Of The Night: Breakups, chagrin and alcohol 🍾

July 16, 2020October 14, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ Leave a comment

In this essay, I’ll focus on the causes and consequences of a rift between the characters. Since you have already seen the pictures chosen as illustration for the analysis, you know the identity of the persons I’ll focus. But this is only partially correct. We need to look at the partners’ reactions carefully as well. What caught my attention are the similarities between chapter 18 and 19. In chapter 18, we have the end of relationship between Yoon Seungho and Jihwa, whereas we have a rift between Jung In-Hun and Baek Na-Kyum in the next chapter.

1. The break-up between Seungho and Jihwa

First, let’s examine the first parting. Striking is that the powerful noble is the one who decides to cut ties with his childhood friend.

The latter has been caught as the culprit who ruined Baek Na-Kyum’s second painting. But this incident is just the trigger for the split. In fact, there are other roots for the rift. Interesting is that the red-haired man never expected this to happen revealing that he had never comprehended the true nature of his relationship with Yoon Seungho.

He believed that since he had been by Yoon Seungho’s side for so long and the latter had been his only sex partner, the protagonist had given him some privileges. He was only partially right. The lord closed his eyes, when Jihwa came unannounced and when the latter bought one of his servants in order to spy on him.

All this time, he showed a certain tolerance towards his friend but each time, he revealed displeasure and had a cold gaze which the friend never caught, too self-absorbed in his own feelings and thoughts. That’s the reason the main lead didn’t great him properly in the chapter 12.

It even culminated to a firm warning. But Jihwa overlooked it. From my point of view, the red-haired lord made two huge mistakes. First, he misjudged the warning because of a misunderstanding.

For our beloved seme, the reproach made by Jihwa implied that his friend was spying on him. Therefore he asked him to stop prying into his life by getting info through his “informer”.

Furthermore, Jihwa was acting as if he had a prerogative to meddle in his friend’s life. He had to tell him how to live his life.

Notice the seme’s behavior in the last picture. He puffs the smoke into his friend’s face showing his dissatisfaction and frustration. During their whole conversation (chapter 12-13), Seungho was well aware that Jihwa was prying into his life, however the powerful noble remained distant and didn’t let anything transpire: “Nothing much happened”. So when he warns him not to cross the line, he has something else in his mind. For him Jihwa acts like all the other nobles, keeping an eye on him because valuable info could give him some leverage. The master never thought that his friend’s actions were the result of his jealousy. This is where the misunderstanding lies. Moreover, due to Seungho’s leniency, the red-haired man believed that he had a special place in Seungho’s heart. The reality was different. Yoon Seungho always perceived him as a sex partner like the others because he was a noble. Despite their long relationship, the main character holds deep grudges against the aristocracy. In his eyes, they are all hypocrites and snakes, trying to backstab their acquaintance for their own benefit.

This is what Yoon Seungho learnt through his traumatic past, he saw beyond his father’s actions but Jihwa failed to comprehend this because he is too immature to grasp the whole situation in the past. And this leads me to believe that our protagonist resents the nobility for conspiring against the king. The purge wouldn’t have happened if they had done nothing and he had to bear the whole burden as he was the sacrificed lamb for his family. Simultaneously, the other aristocrats were betrayed by one of their fellows who did it in order to gain more benefit. This explicates his refusal to meddle with politics. For him, all the nobles and the king are terrible. Now, you can understand why the main character couldn’t differentiate Jihwa from the others as he was a noble. What Jihwa recognized as an advantage (his title), it symbolized a hindrance in reality in Yoon Seungho’s life. No wonder that the latter never looked down on the painter because he discerned his talent and hard work.

Furthermore our seme was well aware that Jihwa had been using him all along. Therefore when his friend claims he has been using him all this time, this is no novelty for the seme. However, the readers know very well that these words are not reflecting the entire truth. Jihwa had been waiting for Seungho’s love. Interesting is that these words reinforced the impression the main character had about his childhood friend and this deepens their misconception. Yoon Seungho misunderstands Jihwa’s motivation behind his actions. He can’t detect the love his friend has for him since on the surface, it seems like Jihwa is disregarding his authority, acts behind his back and puts informers in his mansion. Hiring an amateur spy could be for another reason, like discovering his secrets so that he can be blackmailed. The irony is that due to his plot, Jihwa even encourages the former friend to seduce the low-born. Yoon Seungho even teases the red-haired noble by announcing that he will turn this gossip into a reality.

Here, we can clearly observe that Yoon Seungho never viewed Jihwa differently from the other aristocrats. The main lead has the impression that he doesn’t belong to their order hence he has no problem to taste a commoner. For him, title means nothing. That’s the reason why their friendship or sexual relationship could never deepen and become real love. Jihwa could only predict his friend’s behavior but never what triggered his actions. Striking is that the end of their relationship doesn’t affect Yoon Seungho at all. That’s why his heart is not moved when he sees Jihwa’s face full of tears as he doesn’t wipe his tears, like he does with the artist.

For him, the tears can only be a simulacrum, nothing genuine because Jihwa has always faked his facial expressions. In addition, he perceives more anger and rage than pain. I would even add that Yoon Seungho seems to be relieved for the loss of his acquaintance therefore he caresses the painter’s cheek and thanks him for the amusing incident. What caught my attention are Yoon Seungho’s words. While the latter commented to Jihwa that nothing much happened in his life despite the straw mat beating, he considers the parting with Jihwa as exciting. It leaves the impression that Yoon Seungho was living like a zombie with his friend by his side. So hurting another noble has become an amusement and now, we understand why the protagonist had so much fun during the hunt. (chapter 22) He enjoys humiliating nobles, it gives him sensations, whereas punishing commoners or killing servants is nothing extraordinary.

Jihwa’s humiliation and his rift with his childhood friend happens in the courtyard, where many servants witness this incident generating gossip. Due to their parting, Jihwa becomes a drunk and visits the tavern very often. He drowns his sorrow in alcohol. (chapter 41) His chagrin is so deep that he is losing little by little his dignity. In chapter 41, he even has his hair loose and sleeps on the street like a commoner. He no longer acts and dresses like a noble. All this illustrates that Jihwa did love his friend but his lack of consideration and egoism were the reasons why he could never get close to the seme. The irony is that Yoon Seungho has already experienced Jihwa’s betrayal hence this is no surprise if the main lead will know right away who was behind the attempted assassination. The problem is that the main lead never thought that the moment he is in a relationship with the painter, he has to protect his loved one very well. This is no longer amusing and exciting when your loved one gets hurt. This will teach him a lesson so that he will be better prepared, when his other enemies start targeting him.

On the other hand, the dissolution of his relationship with Jihwa liberates the seme, as now he has no particular sex partner. He is free to go after the low-born, even if it means that he will be outcast by the other nobles. (chapter 18) He never cared for his reputation or seclusion anyway. Then we have to remember that from early on Yoon Seungho was aware of Baek Na-Kyum’s feelings for the teacher. In my opinion, he must have even thought that they were in a relationship because Baek Na-Kyum treasured the teacher’s poem so much, was willing to get punished instead of his “learned sir”, when the latter was suspected of the “crime”. In addition, he has never heard the low noble’s words about his disdain for sodomy and erotic pictures. He observed as well that the painter was keeping his distance from him despite the arousal and his advances (chapter 16). From my point of view, the seme got aware that the artist was faithful to the teacher, yet he misjudged the true nature of their relationship. Hence he never anticipated that the painter was a virgin, influenced by the power of the erotic paintings, the place he was raised and the blushing caused by the teacher.

2. The separation between Na-Kyum and In-Hun

And the most important picture in chapter 19 is that only Seungho becomes the witness of the rift between Jung In-Hun and Baek Na-Kyum, unlike with the breakup with Jihwa.

As you can observe, this time there is no servant, only nobles and the latter are not aware of the presence of the two persons in the courtyard. Notice that this scene makes the lord stop walking indicating that he is very attentive and interested because the painter means a lot to him. Now, he gets aware that there is a quarrel between these two people.

First he was in a good mood, when he visited the gisaeng house

because he couldn’t forget the painter’s expression during the masturbation. It had affected him so much that night that he had an arousal too. In other words, their sexual encounter had left a deep impression on the lord. Then the rift with Jihwa changed everything, it encouraged him even more to pursue the uke.

Later he keeps thinking about the scene he witnessed in the courtyard. He is trying to judge what really happened there. When the painting is presented to his guests, he pays attention to the artist’s facial expressions and sees the tears in his eyes masked by the drop of rain.

Sadness is written all over his face but he has no idea about the outcome. Is it just a quarrel or a breakup because he only saw a simple gesture coming from the teacher? He just raised his hand.

Compare this behavior to Yoon Seungho’s, when he cut ties with his friend. The former grabbed the red-haired noble by the topknot, literally threw him on the ground and finally stabbed the spy. Despite the same location, the gestures were more dramatic and more comprehensible hence this scene doesn’t look like a parting. As you can detect, the flashbacks are quite important in this chapter because it outlines the noble’s preoccupations. While he is physically present with his guests, he is actually lost in his thoughts thinking about his “prey”.

When he hears that the bottle of expensive wine has disappeared, Byeonduck focuses on the noble’s gaze.

This is the signal for Yoon Seungho. Now, he knows what occurred between the two men, I mean, he believes to know. Here, look at his gaze, there is surprise but also a light reflecting in his eye. It was as if a fire had been ignited, therefore he is not angry that someone stole the bottle. He knows the identity of the thief but doesn’t care because he sees this as an opportunity to approach the painter. They must have broken up or something similar hence the painter is drinking his sorrow in alcohol.

Imagine the irony, Yoon Seungho doesn’t even pay attention to his childhood friend after the rift. If he had heard that his red-haired friend would spend his days and nights at the tavern drinking, he would have noticed that Jihwa might have had other motives for spying on him. (chapter 36)

For the master, the theft of the bottle is the trigger for him to visit the painter’s chamber. He must seize the opportunity, maybe in his chagrin, Baek Na-Kyum will accept his advances. Therefore he goes there hoping to have sex. What he doesn’t expect is that though he envisaged that he would have to seduce the man, he isn’t in control of the situation. He has to hear a love confession and is even kissed so suddenly. (chapter 19) Right from the start, the low-born is the one controlling their encounter. Like I had mentioned in another analysis, their “first night” together has two phases. The first one is when Seungho is just looking for sex but he is stopped by the artist, when the latter admits his fear since he is a virgin. The second phases is where both make love. In both phases, Baek Na-Kyum is the one affecting the lord’s actions and decisions. Yoon Seungho might have taken advantage of the situation, he is mistaken for the learned sir, but in reality Baek Na-Kyum was the one leading the sexual encounter. The alcohol made their “first night” possible, while for Jihwa it increased his pain and distance to Yoon Seungho.

So if we look again at the scene at the pavilion, we realize that Baek Na-Kyum’s rejection and slap sounds like a breakup for the lord. (chapter 25) It was as if they had an one-night-stand and the other has already forgotten their memorable night… because it meant nothing to the uke. Imagine the irony of the situation. The painter kept his virginity for the teacher but once he lost it to another man, he doesn’t want to enter into a relationship with the man who took his virginity. He values more the feelings than the sexual encounter. This explains why the master uses force in order to submit the painter. He can’t accept the rejection or we could say the breakup in Seungho’s eyes. Then since he has internalized that sex is war through his sexual encounters with the other nobles, he believes that he can act the same way with the commoner. He just needs to defeat the artist sexually and the latter will accept his fate. However, he never expected that the outcome would be different. He might have forced the artist to sex, in reality the painter was never defeated as he mentioned Jung In-Hun, the loved one. (chapter 26) Unlike Jihwa and Baek Na-Kyum, the noble didn’t drink any alcohol in order to ease the pain of the breakup because he never accepted it as such. He preferred fighting for this relationship, hence he took care of the artist after the rape. He refuses to admit defeat, even if his actions even worsen the situation and damage his relationship with the low-born. In other words, there will be no breakup or rejection hence he will never drink his sorrow into alcohol. On the other hand, he will be plagued with pangs of conscience and crack his brain in order to salvage his relationship with Baek Na-Kyum. Strangely, he is far more active than Jihwa and Baek Na-Kyum, when it comes to love which contrasts so much to his passivity concerning politics and the nobility. The lord’s chagrin provokes violent reactions so that at the end, he is truly exhausted because he didn’t manage to succeed. Any attempt to win the painter’s heart failed, until he finally showed his true self: tired, vulnerable and depressed. (chapter 35) Only then he is able to have hope again because he no longer perceives hatred, rejection… he even catches the artist’s blushing. And this outlines the painter’s purity, strength and determination.

Now, it is time to pay attention to Jung In-hun and his “breakup” with the painter and as such its impact on the uke. We have to imagine how hard Jung In-Hun’s fall is because in chapter 18, he starts conveying Yoon Seungho’s possessions,

he strolls through the property while thinking that he is far superior to this noble in term of intelligence and morals.

That’s why he calls the powerful lord “filthy fiend”, yet he has to learn through the incident with Jihwa that the painter occupies a bigger place in the noble’s heart than himself. He discovers the artist’s true role at the mansion, he was never a servant like the aristocrat declared. He had to paint erotic pictures for the master.

(chapter 19)

He can’t imagine that the lord would value the low-born more than him, who thinks of himself as skilled and intelligent. Imagine that he has to hear that he has to rely on a low-born in order to get sponsored. He denies this accusing the low-born of seducing the noble, proclaiming that he had used immoral means in order to get this position. Let us not forget that with these words, the teacher is trying to diminish the artist’s talent which he can’t recognize as he is just a low-born. Only people from the nobility, even if they belong to the low nobility, have skills, that’s what distinguishes them from the commoners. This is exactly what Jung In-Hun believes hence he is so blinded by his arrogance and entitlement that he can’t admit Baek Na-Kyum’s talent. What a humiliation for the teacher and if we remember how highly he thought of himself while envying the lord’s wealth, he envisioned himself as rich and powerful as his sponsor in the future. This shows how delusional he is. However, he was not sponsored for his abilities but because he was used as leverage for the painter. He had to thank a low-born for his future career due to erotic pictures of sodomy, something he loathes and hates.

What Yoon seungho saw as a simple gesture, is full of meaning and power hence it is so painful for the painter.

The raised hand means that he can no longer remain by the teacher’s side. Jung In-Hun doesn’t need to use violence in order to cut ties with the low-born, he has already physically and emotionally abused him in the past. The low noble pushes him away. Strictly speaking, he can never claim that he was his acquaintance or friend or supporter. By cutting ties, the noble tries to hide from the reality. If they are no longer together, then the deal becomes ineffective.

Now, imagine the irony of the situation, he is the one who ends their relationship because he has some difficulties to accept the truth after discovering the existence of the deal, on the other side he will be the one running towards the artist renewing their relationship, the moment he hears the truth from the powerful lips.

(chapter 22)

The end of the relationship between Jung In-Hun and Baek Na-Kyum means nothing to the low noble hence he doesn’t need to drink in order to forget the pain. On the other hand, he needs some time in order to digest the news: he was never considered as a great man full of potentials by the lord he envied.

However, the revelation of the deal unveils how fragile his relationship with the painter was. Each time his pride was hurt, he rejected the artist and sent him away. We have to envision that this was the reason why the low-born turned into a drunk. Once the learned sir discovered that Baek Na-Kyum was a successful book author, he got jealous and ensured that he would stop painting. At the same time, he rejected him because of his erotic paintings. The uke could only drown his sorrow in alcohol because he could no longer paint and simultaneously no longer meet the learned sir. This explains why after the rejection, the painter steals the bottle and drinks it all.

He wants to forget that painful moment. It is like in the past. This chapter is important since it gives the readers a clue about the reason why Baek Na-Kyum became a drunk.

The moment Yoon Seungho opens the door and sees the artist’s drunkenness, he can’t help commenting about the poor state of the commoner: “What a sight!” So the painter should have realized the contradiction between the face he was seeing and the voice.

So now, there is only one element left to comment. Why does the painter believe to see his teacher opening the door of his chamber?

From my point of view, the alcohol is not the only explication. To me, it just unleashed his unconscious. It lowered his guard, he wished the return of his loved one. But if he had paid attention to the voice, he should have perceived the difference in the voice. Never mind, if you look at the pictures above, you’ll notice two things. When he hears the door opening and hears the comment, he turns his head so that he can’t pay attention to the voice itself, his desire is so strong that he imagines to see the teacher’s face. However, from that moment, he doesn’t look at the person’s standing in front of him. He walks towards Yoon Seungho while looking down and covering his face, then when he confesses his love, he is not even looking at the person’s face. (chapter 19) When he kisses the lord, his eyes are closed too. So the illusion was just for a brief moment, the readers were misled by Byeonduck. All this time, we have to envision that this is Yoon Seungho standing there. The drunkenness gave the uke the courage to confess his love but at the same time, it was just a wish that the low noble would be there. What caught my attention is that moment, they kiss each other, the painter is no longer able to discern the partner’s face. (chapter 21) We have to wonder why. My explanation is the following. Deep down, the uke knew that Jung In-Hun would never have sex with him, would never accept his feelings. However, his unconscious, meaning his repressed sexual desires, was unleashed, he wanted to have sex with a man, he had already dreamed of it twice and each time, it was with the powerful noble. So the painter’s unconscious allowed him to reveal his true sexual orientation, something he had kept hidden due to the brainwashing. So the alcohol not only reveals the chagrin caused by the rejection, it helped the painter to reveal his true desires and identity. That’s why the artist couldn’t remember the night spent with the powerful lord, it was like a dream and we all know that we always forget dreams.

And this leads me to the following observations and conclusion. The lord had no idea that the painter’s rejection and refusal were caused by the teacher’s coercive persuasion. He only thought that the genuine love felt for the teacher was the cause and they had a special relationship from the start. Sure, he discovered later that they had never entered into a physical relationship but he only explained this as an one-sided crush. Furthermore he knows the low noble’s true personality and anticipated that the learned sir would use the painter in order to obtain favors as soon as the existence of the deal is revealed.

But imagine his reaction when he gets aware of Jung In-Hun’s true behavior. The latter abused his loved one emotionally and physically, he was the real cause for the painter’s rejection as he had been indoctrinated that sodomy was dirty and filthy. Not only the powerful noble but also the painter suffered indirectly due to him. This would have changed a lot of things if the noble had met the artist much earlier… The uke wouldn’t have been forced to make a vow, wouldn’t have been hurt… the master wouldn’t have pushed to rape the painter because in reality the latter was indeed attracted by Yoon Seungho, like the two wet dreams unveiled it. Imagine the lord’s chagrin and regret, the moment the past is revealed. Only in the chapter 33, Baek Na-Kyum’s repressed memories of the physical abuse resurfaced and we only saw a glimpse of it… just a picture indicating that he must have repressed much more. So how will Yoon Seungho react, when the truth is unveiled? I doubt that he will remain inactive. We saw that his love for the painter was the trigger for the lord to become proactive. It will be interesting to see if the master seeks revenge on the former teacher. This could be the other reason why the noble ensures that Baek Na-Kyum surpasses his former admired sir in his career. I am quite sure that he won’t spare Jung In-Hun and make sure that he gets hurt physically too.

Feel free to comment or to give any suggestion for an analysis (topic, manhwas). If you enjoyed reading it, either retweet it or push the button “like” so that this writing doesn’t become pointless. My reddit/twitter/tumblr/instagram account: @bebebisous33 Thanks for the support.

Painter Of The Night: Yoon Seungho’s mouth 👄

July 13, 2020August 22, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ Leave a comment

Since I wrote a long analysis about “Legs That Won’t walk”, this time, my essay related to Painter Of The Night will be short. Nevertheless, I wanted to keep my promise to write each day something about this manhwa.

Now, you are wondering why I am focusing on Seungho’s mouth. The reason behind this is quite simple. I observed something very important while paying attention to the drawings. We have many pictures about Seungho’s gaze and the hands, yet Byeonduck did zoom in different chapters on Seungho’s mouth. All the following pictures have something in common. The reader can only see the protagonist’s mouth and each time, it is impossible to see his gaze. Why did the author focus on the main character’s mouth? This list is what I could gather so far (I might have missed some), nevertheless this selection will serve as an illustration.

We have this image in chapter 4:

In chapter 12, Yoon Seungho is seen threatening the painter.

Then in chapter 16, the beholder witnesses how Seungho is calling Baek Na-Kyum by his name, while whispering into his ear.

Moreover, our main character keeps whispering in chapter 20, when he orders his loyal valet to close the door:

The beholder sees a similar drawing in chapter 35, although I have here to add two other pictures for the explanation.

In chapter 39, we even have two such drawings (here I added the one in the middle for the explication :

If you compare all these pictures together, you’ll note that there exists two kind of zooms focusing on the protagonist’s mouth.

The first one is, when he is talking to Baek Na-Kyum very closely. These mirror the evolution of their relationship. First, in chapter 12, he is threatening the low-born in order to submit him. We can observe that they have a master-servant relationship. Seungho has problems to approach and impress the man, so far Baek Na-Kyum showed a certain defiance in his behavior. Then in the chapter 16, he is whispering his name “Na-Kyum” revealing his intention of being intimate with him. While talking, he is even licking the commoner’s ear in order to arouse him. He is seducing him with his words and actions. Hence we can say that he no longer treats him as his “servant”. In the last one, the characters are kissing each other representing the climax of intimacy. Striking is that Seungho can’t help himself smiling and letting a sound out. He is expressing his happiness. Finally, the painter is no longer rejecting him, he is even reciprocating his kisses and his face is even blushing. So Seungho is finally able to have the man reddened. Each time, he saw the artist blushing for the teacher, he got so jealous and now, he can provoke the same reaction. The sound “pfft” shouldn’t be judged as the protagonist is mocking the painter. He is just showing his joy.

Now, the second kind of zoom on the main lead’s zoom is when he is speaking. These kind of drawings are important because these reflect the moment where the seme is expressing his deep thoughts and emotions. Remember that I said that the protagonist is someone who keeps his thoughts and emotions to himself. The drawings with the mouth only indicate that Seungho is opening up, is voicing his inner thoughts.

At the pavilion, he was actually talking to himself, since he paid no attention to Jihwa. He can’t help himself saying what he is seeing in his mind. He is amazed that he can feel so free… he is liberated from the oppressing and condemning gazes. He is accepting himself because of the painting. It was as if his own gaze from the painting had hypnotized him and helped him to overcome his trauma.

Then in chapter 20, he whispers to Kim to close the door. Sure, he doesn’t want to scare the drunk artist. However, I perceive the whispering, as if he has some problem to reveal his true desires. Here, he has to admit in front of Kim that he wants to taste the painter for himself. In fact, he is giving an order to the butler. Little by little he is opening up, expressing his true thoughts and as such revealing his true personality: his wishes and desires. At the same time, it exposes that the main lead is acting more and more like a lord.

In chapter 35, our protagonist is at his lowest. He could never obtain the artist’s heart and is about to admit defeat. Strangely is that the “camera” is focusing more and more on the protagonist’s mouth. First, with the gaze and after only with the mouth. We can detect here the main character’s struggles. He has problems to externalize his inner thoughts. He has no idea what he could say because he fears the painter’s reaction. That’s why he stops himself, the three dots illustrate his concern. The low-born could reject him one more time. Interesting is that we only hear the seme’s question in the black picture. The author lets the reader vizualize the main character’s shyness. He is expressing himself with great difficulties. It was as if he was hiding himself. But he is able to overcome his fear and shyness hence he asks the painter about the painting. Then in the chapter 39, he has no problem to show his reproach and concern for the uke in front of the servants. Little by little, Seungho is no longer hiding his desires and as such his personality. He starts more and more voicing his true thoughts and emotions.

That’s why we have less pictures with the mouth only. This mirrors his inability to voice himself. However, the readers assist to a transformation of our main character. We have to imagine that this man has lived like a zombie for a long time and was even the master of deception. He never externalized his inner thoughts and emotions. This explains why we have no love confession from our beloved seme. He is just at the beginning of opening up. He hasn’t voiced any inner thought in front of the painter. For that, he needs practice and time.

That’s the reason why my favourite chapter in the first season is chapter 39. For the first time, he shows to his servants that they can’t talk to the artist like that behind the master’s back. He is very protective of Baek Na-Kyum. We shouldn’t forget that he was well aware that his domestics were gossiping about him (Yoon Seungho) but he never intervened before. In the chapter 39, he makes a statement: no one is allowed to gossip about the artist and his relationship to the lord. He was very firm about this. And his words were pretty effective because later, Jihwa’s spy has problems to find out what is happening at Yoon Seungho’s mansion.

chapter 41: the servant can only get info through other persons, Yoon Seungho’s domestics don’t dare to gossip any longer. So when the seme voiced his reprimand, they knew that they could no longer ignore the warning.

Moreover, we have the clothes showing Seungho as a man in love but he is still trying to hide these feelings. Furthermore, we get to see the inner thoughts from the main character with the drawing focused on the hand. (Chapter 39) The beholder can detect his jealousy. Then the “pfft” reveals his ultimate happiness but he can only make a sound. He can’t even say it directly to the painter who has his eyes closed. In this chapter, the master is revealing himself the most. He shows his teasing side and his huge sense of responsibility as well. But this huge step forward can be explained that for the first time, Baek Na-Kyum accepted to share his bed with Yoon Seungho. However, this huge progression is stopped due to the events in chapter 41 and 42. Jung In-Hun did damage their relationship. They might have sex together but I believe that Baek Na-Kyum is not spending the night with the lord, like in chapter 37/38. But for that, Seungho needs to voice his true thoughts and feelings. Maybe the poem (see my analysis about the hypotheses for the second season) will help them to get closer again. Seungho likes poetry and it could help him to externalize his love for the painter.

Painter Of The Night/Legs That Won’t Walk: Illusion and reality 🥊

July 5, 2020July 30, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 4 Comments

This is where you can read these manhwas. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/legsthatwontwalk But be aware that these manhwas are mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. Here is the link, if you are interested in more analyses about manhwas https://bebebisous33analyses.com/2021/06/06/table-of-contents-of-analyzed-mentioned-manhwas/

It would be great if you could make some donations/sponsoring: Ko-fi.com/bebebisous33 That way, you can support me with “coffee” so that I have the energy to keep examining manhwas. Besides, I need to cover up the expenses for this blog.

During the first season of the manhwa Painter Of The Night, we have many scenes where illusion and reality are mixed or where reality differs from the appearances.

In the first case, I could mention the daydream in the chapter 2 (chapter 2) or the wet dream in the chapter 6 where the painter’s repressed natural desires resurface. The readers are a little confused because initially they have no idea how to judge these drawings. Are they reality or fiction? This is in particular visible in the following picture: On the surface, it looks so real, while in reality this image was a vision in Baek Na-Kyum’s dream which marked the start of his unleashed unconscious. In the wet dream, we had a similar question. The beholder wondered if these images were true memories or fantasies. (Chapter 2) These were a mixture of both, although the more pictures we got, the more it became an illusion, a phantasm. As you can observe, the boundaries between seem and real were sometimes not clearly defined. The beholder had to distinguish this.

In the second case, I could refer to the chapter 42 and 43. While the reader witnesses Seungho embracing wholeheartedly the painter and detects the longing for affection and warmth from the noble as much as he is expressing his love for the low-born, Jihwa imagines to see something else. Baek Na-Kyum is the one who seduces the powerful lord hence he believes to detect a cunning smile on the artist’s face. (Chapter 43) The red-haired man is too biased towards the young low-born because he has so many prejudices against commoners. He believes that each low-born has no principle and virtue and will do anything in exchange for power, money in order to improve his life. However, the reality is different from the illusion Jihwa experienced.

Baek Na-Kyum is so pure and innocent, he has strong principles. When he made the vow to never paint any erotic pictures, he was willing to suffer which underlines his determination and strength. He might have shed some tears but he never regretted any decision. What Jihwa failed to see is that he was projecting his own mentality into the painter’s mind. In fact, the one who is somehow corrupted and influenced by power and money is our red-haired man. Let’s not forget that Jihwa claims in the chapter 18 that he has been using his friend all this time.

Sure, he did it in order to maintain a certain dignity and out of pride, yet I suspect that there was some truth in his words. He might have loved Yoon Seungho but not to the point to have his reputation ruined as sodomite. His intimate interactions with Yoon Seungho occurred behind the curtain under the excuse that they were childhood friends.

Let’s not forget that Jihwa did cover his body so that the servant wouldn’t see the hickeys left by the seme. (chapter 3) Furthermore, it seems that each time Yoon Seungho had a sex session with Jihwa, he had no other sex partners. (chapter 13). Notice that Jihwa wasn’t present at the sex orgy in the chapter 33 hence he trusted Min’s words when the latter told him that the seme was hopping from one bedchamber to the other. From my point of view, Jihwa never participated in that kind of events that’s why he was able to have a clean reputation.

And in that instant you know why, for the other nobles like Min, it was visible that Jihwa was pinning for Yoon Seungho. My suspicion is that he only had our alpha seme as sex partner. Now, you can imagine why Jihwa must have resented the low-born so much after the chapter 18. The nature of his relationship with the protagonist was revealed, when he was dragged by the topknot in front of the servants. Here through their yelling, Jihwa tried to force his childhood friend to give up on the commoner. (Chapter 18) With these words, the red-haired noble implied that his friend had to choose between him or Baek Na-Kyum as Jihwa had no intention to share him with the artist.

This reinforces my impression that Jihwa had always perceived himself as Seungho’s lover who was willing to share him with other nobles. He had been expecting all along that at some point, the protagonist would realize that Jihwa loved him. Striking is that after that topknot incident, Jihwa could no longer keep this honorable image and started acting like a spoiled child and paid no attention to his reputation as a noble. His servants have to clean his mess here. He became himself a drunk. (chapter 36)

Imagine that in the picture above the depressed noble slept on the street and his servant had to wake him up so that we can assume that the servants must have gossiped about his drunkenness and lack of dignity. The aristocrat doesn’t pay attention to his own image as a honorable noble any longer. He is too affected by the riff between him and Yoon Seungho.

But the illusion in the chapter 43 is just the result of his misinterpretation of the scene in the chapter 12 and the sex session in the chapters 14 and 15. We know that he has no info about Baek Na-Kyum hence he is unaware of his past and the vow. Yet I have to object that the friend never tried to get any info about the painter. He just saw him as a commoner hence as someone below his social status. That’s the reason why he became the victim of an illusion so easily, although in reality he might have already perceived some truth behind the appearances.

Now, let’s examine the scene in the chapter 12 where the boundaries between seem and real were mixed, just like in the first case. (Chapter 12) Nevertheless, it contrasts to the first case as in this scene every action is real, it just depends on the interpretation of the participants. Here, the red-haired uke is observing from far away how Yoon Seungho is treating the low-born. We have to remember that his perception of the reality is limited because the lord is turning his back to him and is in front of the painter. Secondly he stands too far away to be able to hear their conversation. In other words, he can’t see Yoon Seungho’s facial expression nor the painter’s face as the master’s shoulder is covering his face. Based on these parameters, I selected all the pictures Jihwa could witness due to the movement of Seungho’s arm and hand:

All the lord’s gestures displays care and gentleness. It was as if the lord was caressing the artist’s face and the hair. We have to remember that while Jihwa observed these gestures, he had already caught that Yoon Seungho would show more respect towards the low-born than himself. (Chapter 12)

While the noble hadn’t left his room to receive his guest, he made the effort to come towards the artist the moment he appeared. Besides, we shouldn’t forget that he had been warned by his aristocratic friend that Seungho was somehow fascinated by the painter’s gaze. (Chapter 14) All this led the jealous man to the conclusion that there was something going on between the commoner and his childhood friend. However, we have to remind to the readers what Jihwa couldn’t see in the pictures above. The uke was avoiding the master’s gaze. Either he closed his eyes or looked down. If he had witnessed it, Jihwa would have realized that the fascination was coming more from his childhood friend than the reverse and as such, Baek Na-Kyum didn’t seduce the lord in this chapter. For him, the reality was that the low-born was using his position and influenced the lord in a bad way. He was already showing some favoritism. This perception of the reality was definitely influenced by his biased view about commoners.

What he couldn’t view or hear is the following:

– a smiling master making a ironical remark

– The content of the whispering (Chapter 12) Here, the master is actually threatening the commoner. So his words stands in opposition to his gentle demeanor.

– What looked like a caress from far away was actually a scratch. (Chapter 12)

For Baek Na-Kyum, there was nothing like a caress and a nice comment. Behind the appearances, he was hurt and threatened. For him, this was the reality. The gentle smile with the ironical remark was just a mockery and a simulacrum. He was hiding his true personality behind his caring manners. Now, you can understand why Baek Na-Kyum can not perceive the affection from the protagonist’s due to his past actions. From his perspective, the master was disguising his true nature. He had already witnessed his ruthlessness and violence therefore he took the menaces very seriously. In other words, Yoon Seungho appeared to be fake, his gentle manners were just an act. The gentleness was just an illusion. That’s why Seungho will suffer so much later, as he has to pay for the consequences of this behavior. Baek Na-Kyum could no longer distinguish reality and illusion. Even if the master asked for a doctor, in the low-born’s mind, it was possible that this care was linked to a new thread.

Now, if we look this scene from Yoon Seungho’s perspective, we have a different reality. His threads are real, just like his tenderness and smile are genuine as well, so this huge contradiction mirrors the noble’s personality. He hurts the boy by using his finger nails but not to injure him for real. In my opinion, the scratching has a different signification. He is already targeting the painter as his next prey. Deep down, he has already fallen for the artist but he is under the illusion that he has everything under control, he just needs to use his position as lord, his sexy body and charisma so that the uke will fall for him as well. The lord makes the mistake not to realize the true meaning behind his own actions what Jihwa could observe from a distance. He has already fallen under the spell from the painter. He behaves under the illusion that this is just a matter of time until he can taste the commoner. While he perceives himself as the one with the upper hand, he is not aware of Baek Na-Kyum’s strong will and strength. As you observe, being and appearances are much more difficult to discern. I believe that here, the lord’s unconscious was visible. Besides, we have to remember that these values are highly affected by the perception and interpretation of the participants or observers. In Seungho’s case, we could say that his unconscious was somehow triggered by the painter’s gaze which brought to light a new side of the lord and the latter was not aware of it… only Jihwa and his loyal valet could detect the true meaning behind his unusual behavior.

That’s the reason why it is important to pay attention to details and not judge too quickly. Like I wrote above, the boundary between seem and real is not clearly distinguished. Now, I will take an example from another manhwa in order to sensibilise the readers to question being and seem to be. The manhwa in question, called “Legs that won’t walk”, is written by Black apricot which has just been released on Lezhin.

Striking is that this manhwa is in black and white, as if there was only darkness in the protagonist’s life. The choice of colors underlines the depressing and violent atmosphere oozing from his manhwa reminding me of a Roman noir, “a subgenre of crime fiction where right and wrong are not clearly defined, while the protagonists are seriously and often tragically flawed” (Definition from wikipedia). In other words, there is no superhero here, only dangerous and flawed characters indicating that this story will be quite heavy.

The main character is Kwon Soo-Young, a former boxer who became handicapped after a match. On the surface, he looks pitiful and weak hence the passerby often excuse themselves, when they shove him by accident or see him walking.

This infuriates him but he doesn’t express his anger and fury in front of them. Yet his personality stands so much in contrast to his physical condition: he is resilient, brave and quite strong-willed. Even at the lowest point of his life, he has been beaten up by the boss from a gang,

the loan shark Park Tae-Seung, he fights back

and is able to punch the gang leader.

This resistance and perseverance catch the boss by surprise. He never expected this reaction from someone like him, with so many bruises and a handicap. He thought that the man would beg for leniency and ask for time to repay the debt. Kwon Soo-Young has to reimburse the debt from his abusive father. The former has already cut ties with him and the reason for his rage and fighting spirit is definitely linked to his tragic and terrible childhood. Therefore we learn through Soo-Young that reality and appearance can be really deceiving. The exterior doesn’t really reflect what we truly are. Impressions can mislead to false conclusions and interpretations. But this is not the only case where appearance and being can differ so much. The other character is the ex-boyfriend Song Si-Jung. Here, the exterior doesn’t contrast to the interior, rather it was as if he had two personalities, as if he was Mr. Hyde

and Doctor Jekyll.

He is very difficult to discern and only after rereading the chapters, I could discern the darkness in this character which Soo-Young has already sensed but not really understood. Behind his smiles and gentle demeanor, he is a very violent and manipulative person. In the following scene, you’ll observe again his double personality. When another boxer enters his father’s club, Ji Sung is smiling and polite.

However, the moment the friend reveals that someone with a crutch was standing in front of the club, his facial expression changes so abruptly.

He looks really scary and you can sense his possessiveness and obsession about Soo-Young. So first impressions can have tragic consequences, for Soo-Young it was the case. He saw a smiling and nice Si-Jung showing some concern and inviting to join his boxing club. However, his relationship with him was the reason why he lost his leg.

Just like in the manhwa Painter Of The Night, there is a scene where the boundary between illusion and reality is unclear, so confusing that the reader has some difficulty to judge the situation.

chapter 2: Here, he is calling Si-Jung hyung

Is it a rape or not? This is quite difficult to judge at first and this mirrors the reality. A verdict in a rape case is not easy to sentence, especially if the involved parties were or are in a relationship.

Despite the endearing name, he asks the man to stop which means he is not willing to have sex. In that moment, the boyfriend looks at Soo-Young with a scary expression. Here, the uke can perceive the violent side of his “boyfriend”, he won’t accept a refusal.

The frightening gaze deeply affects Soo-Young, he gets scared, thus he doesn’t really fight against Si-Jung.

From my perspective, Soo-Young is actually raped, but the latter doesn’t seem to realize the true nature of this sex session. Si-Jung is using his “charisma” and “Mr. Hyde”‘s personality to submit the uke. Fact is that after this sex session, Soo-Young never pressed charges against the boyfriend. Strangely, the uke appears defenseless and vulnerable, which is actually reflecting the real nature of his relationship with Si-Jung. The latter is physically and mentally abusing the uke, yet the man with the crutch has not realized it yet. The climax of this sex session is the following situation:

It looks like the top wants to help Soo-Young. He is willing to pay for the surgery bills so that Soo-Young can walk normally again. At first, the reader has some difficulty to understand the main character. Why would he refuse help? Is he emotionally unstable or does he do it out of pride? Fact is that Si-Jung wants to bind him forever so that Soo-Young can never escape from his claws.

Soo-Young has already sensed the terrible truth behind these words, besides the threatening tone in the voice made it clear that Si-Jung wouldn’t accept a rejection. Notice that Si-Jung used sex to coerce the protagonist. That’s why the latter only fights back soon after and pushes the boyfriend away.

The moment he is able to run away, the gentle side of Si-Jung resurfaces. It was, as if the protagonist would awake the beastly instincts living inside the boyfriend. However, this rape doesn’t change the fact that Soo-Young has some love and affection for Si-Jung. He confesses to himself that he would like the boyfriend to find him and support him.

That’s why he stood in front of the boxing club, but didn’t dare to enter. Unconsciously, he has already detected the double personality of his hyung and still loves him, because he is the only one who showed concern and affection so far in his life. Yet, he doesn’t want to live in another abusive household like in his childhood. Now, you can understand why this manhwa is quite interesting. The relationship between Soo-Young and Si-Jung is quite complex, just like the characters. Impressions are quite deceiving and the bad boy can be the next-door neighbor with a huge smile.

Soo-Young fell for the illusion, but has already detected a part of the reality. Furthermore, the uke is quite strong… at the end of the sex session, he was able to free himself from a manipulative and brutal man despite his handicap.

As a conclusion, appearance and reality are two important aspects, because they serve to question the true nature of actions and gestures. What we saw or felt can in reality totally different. Consequently, it becomes clear why we shouldn’t judge people too quickly. People need to question people’s actions and words.

Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for a topic and a manhwa worth an analysis, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. Thanks for reading.

Painter Of The Night/ A Painter Behind The Curtain: The difficult life of painters

June 28, 2020June 15, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 2 Comments

This is where you can read the manhwas. https://www.lezhin.com/en/comic/painter https://www.tappytoon.com/comics/painter-behind-curtainm. But be aware that these manhwas are mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes, although there is a softer version for “A Painter Behind The Curtain”. Here is the link, if you are interested in more analyses about this manhwa and others https://bebebisous33analyses.com/2021/06/06/table-of-contents-of-analyzed-mentioned-manhwas/

If you have already read the analysis about “Traces of “Dangerous liaisons” and “Justine: The Misfortunes of Virtue”, you know why I am now using the other manhwa “A Painter Behind The Curtain” created by Munamu. Both works have a lot in common, not only the historical setting but also the story as such. Both stories have a painter as a protagonist and the latter share a similar fate: a lot of suffering.

Since many are not familiar about A Painter behind the Curtain, I’ll just give a short summary. The story has 70 chapters but only 26 have been released in English. The main character is Ian Sconel, a talented painter who was sold as a child by his father to the Bardis, as soon as Mr. Bardi recognized his talents.

Since The Bardis have a long tradition of painters in their family, the father wanted to use the young boy’s talents in order to maintain the family’s reputation and their high lifestyle as renowned painters for the aristocracy. Mr. Bardi let his buyers think that his second son Jeremy was the genius one, whereas Ian Scornel was the one who created all the masterpieces. That’s why the author chose the title “behind the curtain”, as he painted the whole time hidden from the eyes of the others. The title is also referring to the meeting of Ian Sconel and the other protagonist, Mr. Raymond.

Ian was hiding behind the curtain when Mr. Raymond saw him for the first time

If we compare the two artists, we will notice that despite the different location (Italy-Joseon) both come from the bottom of the society. That’s the reason why the two men are illiterate.

chapter 10: Here, Mr. Raymond is offering an employment contract to Ian but the latter can neither sign nor read it. (chapter 40)

Moreover the two felt the need to paint all the time as children.

chapter 1

Although they were both passionate about painting, Baek Na-Kyum’s drawings were limited to one subject: erotic pictures of sodomy. The difference is quite easy to understand: Baek Na-Kyum was raised at a gisaeng house, where sex was a common thing. Besides, this also outlines that the korean boy knew right from the start about his sexual orientation. For Ian, we discover that Mr. Bardi is sexually abusing him. So his homosexuality wasn’t determined right from the start. Little by little, Ian falls in love with Mr. Raymond because the latter treats him so well. But since servants confessing their love to Mr. Raymond are immediately fired, Ian has to hide his feelings for him. Baek Na-Kyum has also to hide his feelings in front of the lord, or better said, he has to fight against his repressed sexual desires (chapter 6), as he has been manipulated by the teacher Jung In-Hun that homosexuality is something filthy and immoral. (chapter 34)

The other common denominator is that the two men became victims of rape, (chapter 26) even if Ian was sexually abused quite often as he spent many years at the Bardis before getting “rescued” by Mr. Raymond.

Notice that during the rape, Ian has to listen to Mr. Bardi’s words that the latter is his benefactor, since he gives him the opportunity to paint and he has a roof over his head. All this leaves deep scars in the painter’s mind which explains why later he refuses to paint any longer.

The blond haired man vows not to paint any longer as he saw it as the cause for his misery and suffering, while Baek Na-Kyum was coerced by Jung In-Hun to abandon paintings due to the sodomy. The two painters have at some point kept their distance from their passion.

But let’s go back to Ian’s paintings. Ian is forced to paint what Bardi wants so he is limited in his creativity. Whereas Yoon Seungho also restraints the low-born in his creativity, since he has to paint sex scenes, Ian has to create religious paintings or scenes with nobles.

Both sponsors use their position to impose their will. The painters have no right to refuse and to choose their subjects based on their inclination or inspiration. This outlines their precarious situation as they are dependent on the sponsor. Yoon Seungho’s attitude does resemble Mr. Bardi’s behavior, yet there is another huge contrast too. Ian is kept captive in his room, can only get food if the picture is finished. That’s why he is often hungry and very skinny.

On the other hand, Yoon Seungho shows a certain favoritism because he placed Baek Na-Kyum right next to his bedroom and the former is even willing to eat his lunch with him. (chapter 11) Despite the difference, they both have to please their sponsor with their work. If there is disobedience, then there is also punishment:

Mr. Bardi slapping Ian after the latter left his room in order to retrieve food as he was starving.

(chapter 13) The low-born was about to get the straw mat beating, until the lord changed his mind. However, just like Ian, the young man had been slapped and even pushed by his “sponsor” before. Ian’s suffering lasts much longer because he arrived at the house as a child and he was already a young man, when he was able to leave this hell created by Bardi.

All these aspects are here dramatized, however this was the reality for painters in the past. Even Vincent Van Gogh couldn’t live properly as he had no real sponsor outside his family. Many painters had to adapt themselves to the taste of their “clients” in order to earn money that’s why many artists chose to paint following the trend and the rules. In other words, the painters’ creativity and curiosity for experiment were bounded, just like in the two fictions.

Baek Na-Kyum became a successful painter because he published many erotic books which the nobility was fond of.

Sure, he had to publish them under a pseudonym, nevertheless his books were quite famous as he was able to survive as a drunk without painting any longer. So even if the topic was taboo, aristocrats were quite interested in such drawings. In order to get attention from the nobility, Ian is also reminded by Henry, a noble, that he should paint based on the trend but this time, Ian refuses. Unlike Bardi and Yoon Seungho, Mr. Raymond gave him the freedom to paint based on his inclination.

The other disparity is that Yoon Seungho wanted to keep the paintings to himself, he never wanted to let people see Baek Na-Kyum’s talents or to earn money with it. It was as if he was determined to own the painter so that he could keep him hidden from people’s attention, as if he wanted to put him behind the curtain. And notice that the noble is not interested in encouraging the artist to develop his talents. (chapter 41) He was jealous and annoyed, when he saw the picture of Jung In-Hun’s inauguration so that he failed to see the talent and dedication in this different type of drawing. So there is a certain selfishness in the seme here but I am expecting that this will change. He could have noticed that the low-born’s talent is not just defined by sex and sodomy but his insecurities made him blind in that moment. Yet, this painting has been given to the loyal valet Kim so that it can get destroyed. But I feel that Kim might give it to his master or keep it. I have the feeling that this painting will play a bigger role in Baek Na-Kyum’s career later.

Now, people who haven’t read “A painter behind the curtain” might think that Yoon Seungho is the Joseon version of Bardi, however they are wrong. Actually, he is a mixture of Bardi (due to his selfish and violent side) and Mr. Raymond. If you look at the image where Mr. Raymond is looking at the painting, you’ll notice his fascination and admiration for the work created by Ian.

The so-called merchant is definitely moved by the creation and the gaze is again revealing the affects caused by the painting. He keeps starring at it, there is a certain calmness and relaxation oozing from his eyes. Just like Yoon Seungho, the bourgeois falls in love with Ian’s pictures. And little by little, he falls in love with the artist himself. As you can see, the paintings serve as a bridge between the two men, Yoon Seungho wants to find the man with the talented hands and at some point Mr. Raymond will realize Mr. Bardi’s fraud and the origin of the paintings: Ian.

However, Mr. Raymond’s kindness and gentleness is not selfless in reality. He needs the artist’s talents in order to get closer to the nobility and as such to power. Art and paintings are linked to power because rulers and even the Church used art in order to legitimate their authority.

Here, this is the famous portray of Louis XIV made by Hyacinthe Rigaud. Through this painting, the French King wanted to demonstrate his power. He is an absolute Monarch. He possesses all the powers: the executive (symbolized by the sword), legislative (scepter) and judicial branches (the hand of justice on the stool). But he doesn’t need the regalia on himself in order to prove his position as absolute ruler.

At the same time, only painters working for the Church or the King had a rather comfortable life. Yet they had to paint what they were told to. Just like Yoon Seungho, the bourgeois is motivated by revenge but uses art as his tool and not sex. Mr. Raymond has a different approach therefore he needs Ian’s talent and help.

Mr. Raymond is not powerful like the lord from Joseon, since the merchant only belongs to the third state, the commoners. He wants to obtain power as he suffered injustice in his childhood.

His father was executed due to a scheme perpetrated by count Rothsildt. So far, he has internalized that only in a powerful position he can get revenge and protect himself and his family from any injustice. Since he is just a bourgeois, he is despised by the aristocrats, at the same time they seek his company as many nobles are facing financial issues which is historically correct. Just before the French Revolution, many bourgeois were even richer than nobles, especially many low nobles were impoverished… which reminds us of Jung In-Hun at the same time. So his role as a sponsor for a talented painter represents his way to get access to power. Like I have mentioned above, for kings talented painters are a tool for the securing their own power.

Since Mr. Raymond has to rely on Ian’s talent, he can’t behave like Yoon Seungho. He needs to win the painter’s trust hence he teaches him reading and writing. Striking is that Ian is compared to a cat,

whereas Baek Na-Kyum’s behavior reminded me more of a lamb. That’s why their position contrasts so much. Ian has the upper hand right from the start with Mr. Raymond and in Painter Of The Night, it is the opposite. Seungho can use his position as lord to force the man to paint, yet as time passes on, the situation reverses. At the end of the first season, Baek Na-Kyum has the upper hand in their relationship. Seungho wants to have the artist’s consent, when it comes to sex. He no longer uses his position as lord. (chapter 41)

This explains why Ian is given so much freedom by the bourgeois. As time passes on, Ian’s PTSD disappears and the artist can develop his own interest and change his techniques. Thanks to Mr. Raymond’s support, he can choose the topic of his paintings and the methods which announces a huge change and innovation in the art. Ian shows an interest for commoners or for landscapes.

The way he paints as well, reminds me a lot of the Impressionism, an art current characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles.

Impressionism originates with a group of artists living around Paris whose independent exhibitions created a wave of scandal and attention at the end of the 19th Century. Famous painters from the impressionism are f. ex. Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Morisot. But Van Gogh and Cézanne were highly influenced by this art movement until they developed their own style. These painters decided not to follow the rules by the Art Academy which explains why many painters from that current struggled a lot. Only Renoir and Monet could become rich and successful before their death. And now, if you look at Ian’s paintings, you observe that Ian has the same thinking and approach as he paints on his impressions. Now, I am adding a picture where the beholder can view the paintings that the nobility liked.

In the background, you can see the classic paintings he created, when he was exploited by Bardi.

The beholder observes the huge contrast as Ian no longer paints religious scenes or mythology, his focus is more or less on daily situations: they have less pathos and ooze more humbleness. But thanks to Raymond, Ian Sconel is able to catch the attention of a famous court painter. However, we shouldn’t forget that this young man wouldn’t have been able to develop his skills any further if Raymond had not entirely supported him.

That’s why the attitude of a sponsor is really important, he can brake or improve the artist’s talents.

Now, if we return our attention to Painter Of The Night, the reader notices that Yoon Seungho was only focused on getting new paintings for his own pleasure. The interest of the low-born never mattered. However, I sense that the lord might come to change his attitude and even help him to develop his talents. Just like in “A Painter Behind The Curtain”, I am expecting that the master will teach Baek Na-Kyum to write and read. Secondly, we know for sure that he has connection to the Royal Academy

and Baek Na-Kyum has for the first time painted on another topic: the inauguration of the low noble Jung In-Hun. (chapter 44) The drawing was detailed and totally different from the erotic pictures. So I am expecting that Yoon Seungho turns into a real sponsor and becomes more and more like Mr. Raymond. However, the latter will have to choose at some point between power or love. By taking care of Ian so well, he wanted him to open up but at the end, Raymond fell in love with the genius too. While one artist could incite arousal with his creations, the other could calm the resentful merchant. Strictly speaking, their art had a huge impact on the life of the two semes.

Despite the suffering and their tragic past, both artists have the chance to meet someone who will help them to get recognition for their talents and to become more independent. But just like I have been showing all along, the painter’s life in the past relied a lot of sponsoring. The French novelist Emile Zola wrote a novel called “L’Oeuvre” (The work) where he described the struggling of an impressionist. The latter was determined to create a masterpiece with innovations and to get recognition but failed at the end. Zola, a close friend of Cézanne, was inspired by his friend’s life and the impressionism, yet this book became the reason why Cézanne cut ties with his childhood friend as the painter Claude Lantier was portrayed in a rather negative way: he was obsessed and neglected everything else including his family. The reasons why I am mentioning this work are the following. First, it outlines the importance of a sponsor and confirmed what the manhwas are telling in their fiction. Then it reveals the difficulties the avant-garde painters had in order to get accepted. Finally here comes the biggest reason. I had to read this book when I was a high school student and through this work, I came to understand the significance of paintings. That’s how I discovered the impressionism and fell in love with their works. Because of this novel, I could finally understand better why innovations in art movement were related to a fight against Academy and rules. Painters are indeed fighters because what they do can go against social norms and etiquette. That’s why their life is so difficult. The rape, the exploitation might be fiction in the manhwas, yet they symbolize the struggles painters from unknown origins had in order to make a breakthrough.

Protected: Painter Of The Night: Yoon Seungho a psychopath? (second version)

June 26, 2020June 21, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33

Protected: Painter Of The Night: Who is this Baek Na-Kyum? – part 1 (second version)

June 21, 2020August 26, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33

Painter Of The Night: The window 🪟, the door 🚪, the air and their signification (third version)

June 20, 2020August 3, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 2 Comments

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents: https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/

If you have already read my former analyses, you know that our protagonist Yoon Seungho is associated to the window, because he spends so much time in a room looking at his courtyard through the window. (chapter 35). But what does the window symbolize?

1. The meaning of the window

In order to answer this question, let us take a look at the definition of the window:

It’s an opening in the wall or roof of a building or vehicle, fitted with glass in a frame to admit light or air and allow people to see out.

Since our story takes place in Joseon, there is no glass, only thin paper or an open frame, yet it doesn’t change the definition. It’s an opening… that admits air and light and allows people to see out. Striking is that the window is connected to fresh air and sun therefore we can say that through the view, people can definitely broaden their horizon as they are able to witness what it happening outside.

However, let us not forget that their view is limited. Yoon Seungho can only see what is happening in the courtyard, but not in the servants’ room or in the painter’s room. Therefore we come to the next conclusion, the window can represent a barrier, a hindrance. That’s the reason why f. ex. writer Emily Bronte used the window in that aspect in her novel Wuthering Heights.

The window can even symbolize the boundary between the inner world of a character (room) and the outside. Therefore the room could be seen as the personification of the protagonist embodying his inner thoughts and feelings trapped in his darkness. Hence he is seeking light and air through the window. Consequently, I interpret that Yoon Seungho sitting or standing in front of the window like the following. The room seems to be a prison, it is suffocating for Yoon Seungho, hence he looks out of the window in order to be able to breathe and survive. He is caught in his darkness, yet the window allows him to escape from his dungeon, from his past. His passivity reflects his resignation, he is already thinking that nothing exciting in his life will ever happen, until he met the painter. That’s why he said in the chapter 18:

From the moment he met the low-born, he started acting differently. First he kept touching the painter and then he even started leaving the room behind and came to the door. It is interesting that in chapter 7, Yoon Seungho even followed the younger painter, after the latter had heard about the arrival of his admired teacher. Notice how the lord stands in the courtyard and looks at the welcome of the low noble.

This picture reflects the social hierarchy. Yoon Seungho stands at the top, and the teacher is closer to him. However, if you pay attention to Jung In-Hun’s gesture, he is turning his body in order to face the powerful noble. It was as if he was pushing away the young artist. Now, you realize that such a single picture can contain so much symbolism. But now let’s return to our main topic, the meaning of the room and the window.

So the room with the window represented the situation of the powerful lord at the beginning (chapter 5) and it is still there at the end of season 1. (chapter 44). It looks like there wasn’t much progression, yet this time, the painter walks towards his mansion and remains by his side. This is important, because I realized that with the vanishing of the learned sir, Yoon Seungho chose to remain in the lord‘s bedchamber. What caught my attention is that the lord always went to the courtyard because of the admired sir. We have two chapters for this interpretation: chapter 7 and chapter 35 . What caught my attention is that when the lord visited the scholar for the first time, both were sitting in front of a door which looked like a window at the same time. (Chapter 7) This is not random at all, as from my perspective, it introduces the role played by Jung In-Hun in the main lead‘s life. He will be the one forcing the lord to move away from the window so that he can leave the bedchamber. Thus we had this scene: Yoon Seungho is observing the learned sir and his student from far away. (Chapter 19) This explicates too why the noble remained so passive in season 2 in the end. Baek Na-Kyum was the lord‘s love interest, hence his „place“ is the bedchamber. So how can the lord move away from the window and as such from the bedroom? Jung In-Hun is the trigger. And note that only in season 2, we discovered how the learned sir used walks through the countryside to console the painter. (Chapter 70) Finally, the main lead organized a hunt for the first time because of his honored guest. (Chapter 22) And if you recall the lord‘s behavior, you will notice that he left the city for the first time, when he wanted to meet the scholar. (Chapter 6) He encountered him in the woods. Under this new light, it reinforces my conviction that the learned sir‘s death will be the lord‘s motivation to become proactive and leave his past behind. Why? It is because of the painter‘s words. (Chapter 94) The painter still respects the scholar, but he already loves Yoon Seungho. He is not disloyal towards his former teacher despite falling in love with the protagonist. With the last incident, Yoon Seungho got aware how much the painter means to him, but at the same time, he realized the importance of the learned sir in Baek Na-Kyum‘s life. He needs to answer his question: (Chapter 102) And this question is strongly connected to the scholar, for the main lead was first sent to Jung In-Hun‘s home. ( 100) Don‘t forget that the main lead saw the room covered in blood, though the latter had already dried. To conclude, the main lead was encouraged to walk thanks to the scholar, and as such to leave his window! (Chapter 100)

Therefore it is not surprising why Yoon Seungho remained in front of the window at the end of season 1. He no longer needed to seek him out and bid him farewell. (Chapter 44) It was the painter’s role. This signified that he was still trapped by his past and trauma, something that he hadn’t revealed to anyone. Since Yoon Seungho is still inside the room smoking in front of the window, it reveals that the lord had not really let go of his past at all, he had not expressed himself in front of Baek Na-Kyum yet. If he reveals his inner feelings and thoughts, this means he will disclose his secret and unveil his vulnerability. This explains why there was no confession from the noble’s side for instance [there were other reasons why he hadn’t confessed anything too], why he was still not sharing his inner thoughts and emotions to his partner.

First, he has never opened up to anyone before. Trust is needed and the artist needs to win that trust, because so far, Baek Na-Kyum had always pushed the noble away. There was still a gap between Baek Na-Kyum and the lord, hence the former didn‘t go to his room, but to his own study. My prediction was that Baek Na-Kyum had to open up first so that the lord could learn from him. And it became a reality. The reason was that the seme was very inexperienced, for no one had ever confided to him. Moreover, he had long internalized that weaknesses must be hidden. Unconsciously, he had already claimed Baek Na-Kyum as his bride, nonetheless this indicated that there was still this distance, this invisible wall between them. We have to understand that Yoon Seungho had never learnt how to share pain and express emotions verbally to others. He had to hide his secret, his past and trauma. (Chapter 37)

The shaking hand with the fist embodies his repressed inner feelings and thoughts. He had learned to keep everything to himself. Now, you are probably thinking that all this is not entirely new because I already mentioned his passivity. And now, you can grasp the origins of Yoon Seungho‘s silence and inactivity. This stroll through the mountain corresponds to his true revival. (Chapter 102) This signifies that Yoon Seungho will act differently in season 4: he will be proactive. Like I mentioned in the essay „Scandal(s) in Jemulpo“, he will become the scholar’s disciple and follow his footsteps: ruthless, but also caring and gentle. The only difference is that his affection for the painter is genuine.

2. Baek Na-Kyum‘s symbol: the door

However, I needed to describe this again in order to contrast Yoon Seungho’s position with the painter’s situation. What caught my attention is that Baek Na-Kyum is connected to the door, unlike the main lead. We have so many scenes where the low-born is seen close to a door or stands on the doorstep. This is what I could gather so far (I still might have missed some):

(chapter 10),

(chapter 12)

Here, in the chapter 19 Jung In-Hun discovers the truth about the painting and the deal

(chapter 20)

(chapter 29)

Now, you realize the importance of the door. But what does it mean? Why is Baek Na-Kyum related to the door? First, the window and the door have two common denominators: the room and the limited view to the outside world. However, since a door connects the outside with the inside, it allows to move. The person can leave the room behind, the painter has more possibilities, while with the window the person inside must feel more trapped.

Since I already pointed out that the room embodies the lord’s inner world, we have to imagine that for Baek Na-Kyum it is the same. However, the room represents something else: his unconscious, his hidden true personality and desires and not his past and trauma, like Yoon Seungho. That’s the reason why the room is not a prison like in Yoon Seungho’s case but rather a secret. The painter is hiding his secret behind the door. And now, you can understand the true signification of the door for the artist. The door embodies the doorstep where Baek Na-Kyum has to admit his homosexuality. Now, if we look back at the different situations where the door was seen. Byeondock even drew many pictures of the door in the same chapter underlining the significance and the true meaning of the door.

Now, I’ll interpret different scenes with the door which caught my eye. Little by little I am adding more and more images with the door. And this is what I found so far. I examined the following scenes: 8, 9, 10, 16, 20, 29, 35, 41 and 44.

When we look at the chapter 8, we have this situation. The young man is about to enter the lord’s chamber standing in front of the door. He has been asked by the lord to go there so that he can paint another erotic picture.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-281.png — Chapter 8

Here, the artist is opening the door. It was as if he was entering a forbidden world, where sex and homosexuality are indulged, where people enjoy their sexuality to the fullest. By entering this room, Baek Na-Kyum is reminded of his own repressed and natural desires. Then in chapter 9,

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-294.png — chapter 9: He has just ejaculated

he leaves the lord’s chamber in a hurry after witnessing a sex session. Right behind the door, he can’t help himself and starts masturbating. Hidden behind the door, he feels his sexual urge growing and starts right away with his masturbation. Since he is touching himself so close to the door separating his room from Yoon Seungho’s room, it outlines that he has trouble to control his repressed sexual desires. His unconscious is urging him to become sexually active again. On the other hand, he ensures that the lord doesn’t see his erection demonstrating that he is still denying his own sexual orientation and attraction. On the other hand, the lord heard him which led him to the following conclusions: Baek Na-Kyum is somehow attracted to him and he has some experience with men as he shows no hesitation to masturbate very quickly. So the door served as a protection, he wanted to keep his sexual desires hidden from the noble. Notice how horrible he feels after his ejaculation. He is burying his face as if he was avoiding reality and his own sexual desires. He still wants to deny these urges.

Then chapter 10, the pavilion could be perceived as the unconscious hidden behind the painter’s body. (Chapter 10) Since the pavilion is open aired, it looks like there is nothing there… it was as if the true sexual orientation of the low-born didn’t exist but since there is a roof with beams, we can conclude that Jung In-Hun’s attempt to eradicate his true sexuality has in reality failed. There are rest of it. In other words, the pavilion mirrors Baek Na-Kyum’s denial and brainwashing through Jung In-Hun. This also explicates why Jung In-Hun used here emotional and cognitive techniques as a warning here. He was coercing him to drop the painting.

Then in chapter 16,

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-283.png

Yoon Seungho catches the low-born, because he wants him to experience sex. He has noticed the reluctance hence he just masturbates the young man. Striking is that the door is opened at some point by a servant. This opening of the door by someone else embodies the fear of being discovered. Baek Na-Kyum is determined to never reveal his repressed sexual desires. Consequently he wants the door to stay closed. So if he is seen then, he fears that his sexual orientation will be discovered, yet he wants it to remain a secret. Now, you can understand the meaning of the door in chapter 37. It is still the same. Despite getting a blowjob, he still wants to hide his homosexuality to the outside. Hence he still gets scared and would like the noble to stop from exciting him. So for the first time, he is experiencing sex with someone.

Here, the door is wide open and this coincides with the commoner’s confession. The young man was drunk, yet he was hiding behind the door until it got opened by the lord. So Baek Na-Kyum’s unconscious wanted to reveal his repressed sexual desires (homosexuality) and his love to the outside world.

In chapter 29, the low noble is bringing him back to the mansion. Striking is that the door is completely open too. This picture illustrates the role played by Jung In-Hun in the painter’s homosexuality. He is the one who “forces” to become an official sodomite, therefore he can no longer hide his sexual preference behind a closed door. I believe that this is related to this incident. Note the opened door. The learned sir caught him by surprise. That’s how the learned sir was forced to repress and hide his homosexuality. This is no coincidence that in season 1, the scholar had the opposite attitude. By feigning ignorance, he actually encouraged the artist to become a sodomite. After their return to the mansion, the teacher showed leniency. He accepted that his student would paint erotic paintings, but he was well aware of their sexual encounter. (Chapter 30) The moment he arrives back and the lord brings him back to his chamber, the nature of their relationship is no mystery any longer, though painting is used as a justification. (Chapter 29) Striking is the thickness of the wall. This symbolizes a long way for Baek Na-Kyum to admit his sexual orientation. Just because people know, this doesn’t mean that he is acknowledging his homosexuality immediately.

In chapter 34/35, there are three different scenes where the door plays a huge part. I have to say that the last scene was the one that caught my attention in the first place and that’s how I was able to connect the door to Baek Na-Kyum.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-285.png

The first drawing shows the lord opening the door for Baek Na-Kyum. This signifies that the noble has somehow given up on forcing the painter to admit his homosexuality and his attraction to the lord. That’s the reason why Yoon Seungho spent the entire night thinking over how to convince the low-born to come to his side and become his partner.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-287.png

However, the sex marathon has not left the young man unaffected. He hides behind the closed door, while his body is shaking and his heart is beating loudly. He eve feels butterflies. For the first time, we see Baek Na-Kyum confronting himself with his repressed feelings… for the first time there is a connection between his thinking and his unconscious. He is somehow admitting that the lord’s presence has left an impact on him. However, with his body he is making sure that no one will ever find out this secret. He is still denying his homosexuality to the outside world. He wants to keep it a secret, yet he is no longer denying the existence of these feelings.

Then in the same chapter, we see Jung In-Hun abandoning the low-born and he even closes the door in front of him.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-288.png — This is the picture that made me connect the painter to the door

This single action has so many significations. First, it visualizes the rejection of the teacher. He cuts ties with him. It also shows that Jung In-Hun is well aware of what happened 10 days before. It reveals his selfishness as he shows no concern. In fact, it was as if the low noble was pushing him back. It was as if Baek Na-Kyum was pressured to become a homosexual even without admitting it. The teacher is forcing him to accept his situation but at the same time, he is denying the responsibility. Imagine the hypocrisy of the lord’s action. In reality, he is the one who pushes the painter to sleep with the lord, since he needs a spy. But by closing the door, he ensures that Baek Na-Kyum doesn’t need to admit his own homosexuality. This scene symbolizes the prostitution Jung In-Hun referred later. The teacher wants to use the artist’s sexual orientation for his own needs and simultaneously he doesn’t need to require this from the painter. As a conclusion, Jung In-Hun is now pushing the low-born to become a homosexual without revealing it to the outside world. At the same time, he acts as if he has no idea what is happening to the commoner. That way, Baek Na-Kyum can never reproach him to have used him as a prostitute or to be a hypocrite.

Then in chapter 41, we see a certain progression. The door has been opened by Yoon Seungho but Baek Na-Kyum doesn’t care any longer. Since he is begging the lord to be held, he is finally admitting his true desires. He likes being embraced by a man. This marks a pivotal moment in Baek Na-Kyum’s life. And this explains why the door is wide opened at the end.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-286.png

Baek Na-Kyum is no longer hiding his true sexual orientation. He is facing the world without being embarrassed. He waited for Jung In-Hun, hoping that the young man would still accept him, but he experienced rejection. He was literally left behind. However, his acceptance of his own sexual orientation doesn’t necessarily mean that he loves Yoon Seungho. In the beginning of season 2, he viewed himself as a prostitute. (Chapter 45) He just accepted him as his sexual partner, hence he went to his room and not to the lord’s side in chapter 44. If we compare their respective situation. Yoon Seungho hadn’t progressed much compared to the painter at the end of season 1, because he needed to express his emotions and reveal his secrets and vulnerabilities to Baek Na-Kyum. It took him a long time to open up, as he had been coerced to view himself as a bird of misfortune. He didn’t dare to voice any wish out of fear that these wishes would get ruined. (Chapter 96) In his mind, he had no right to voice any desire, as they would be perceived as GREED! (Chapter 96)

But like I had written above, the low-born was in a better position right from the start. He had more freedom, while for Yoon Seungho the room is indeed a prison. Under this new approach, it becomes comprehensible how the main lead could leave the window and as such the darkness of his nightmare. Because of the painter, Yoon Seungho met Jung In-Hun, and the latter made him feel superior, but also jealous. That’s how his attention got diverted from the window making him discover the existence of the door! We could say that the painter as the butterfly led the poor protagonist to the door, and thanks to his mind, Yoon Seungho could release Baek Na-Kyum from his cage, as his mind was also trapped by social norms. And this sexual emancipation could only take place in the bedchamber. This explicates why the artist’s liberation was the first step for the lord’s liberation. But by opening the door for the painter, Yoon Seungho could free himself. Therefore it is not surprising that the painter‘s final confession took place in front of a closed door, (chapter 96) and Heena could hear his words. Hence at the end, the door got broken: (chapter 96) This represented the final emancipation of the artist. He no longer cared, if he was seen. He was so moved that he didn‘t pay to his surroundings. (Chapter 96), while it was not the case for the noble. The latter knew about the artist‘s shyness. This truly shows that Heena was responsible for the sexual oppression of her brother. The painter was no longer hiding his affection for the main lead, when he decided to wait for his master‘s return in the bedchamber. (Chapter 98) Observe that the artist was going there on his own will, and he was sharing his bed with his husband.

3. Heena and the opened door

How did the scholar discover that Baek Na-Kyum was painting erotic paintings of sodomy? (Chapter 1) This memory was from the learned sir. Why was he approaching the painter during the day? Secondly, note that he only scolded the artist in his house! (Chapter 34) So he had discovered a secret, he imagined that the painter had assisted to an immoral love session. (chapter 6) In my opinion, the kisaeng was responsible for this incident. We have a clue for this interpretation: (Chapter 94) The noona is the one standing in front of the opened door with her donsaeng. Here, the artist was getting embarrassed and humiliated. That‘s how little by little, the artist associated the closed door to shame and safety. This is not surprising that the kisaeng is also standing behind the closed door, when she hears her brother making love to the main lead. (Chapter 96) In addition, she is constantly seen in connection with an opened door, but this opened door is linked to anxieties, pain, shame and guilt: (chapter 68) (chapter 66) (chapter 88) I have the impression that she was acting out of jealousy, and she had intended to tarnish her brother‘s reputation.

And this leads to my final words. In my first version, I had expressed the following thoughts:

„Does it mean that the lord needs to leave the mansion behind in order to liberate himself from his suffering? If so, then we have two possibilities. Either he gives up his title and everything for the painter or he decides to move to the capital and helps the artist to develop his career and even starts meddling in politics.“

And look at the progression of the story. Yoon Seungho did leave the mansion behind and went to the mountain with the painter in his arms. (Chapter 102) This symbolized the final emancipation of Yoon Seungho. He could finally move on from his past, and as such leave the darkness of his mental prison. He no longer needs a window to view life. This scene announced that he was starting living again. Thus I am expecting to see Yoon Seungho becoming more proactive and funny in season 4. He will show his intelligence and strength in order to defeat his enemies because so far, he never revealed his qualities to others, only to the scholar. His past had left him somehow paralyzed, hence he has laid a low profile. In his past, he believed that his prison was his protection, for he could observe and remain quite wealthy and powerful. For me, Baek Na-Kyum is in reality his strength, the reason why he will be able to leave his cage and shows his true colors and skills.

4. The true form of Jung In-Hun

But if the window symbolizes Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum the door, what is representing the teacher? In my opinion the open air. He is mostly seen outside.

(chapter 7) (chapter 10)(chapter 19) (chapter 29) (Chapter 22) (chapter 35) He often strolls through the courtyard. Therefore I would say that the air embodies him so perfectly. He is seen with his nose in the air

which shows his arrogance. Simultaneously, he gives himself airs. How can he be touched by this low-born? The picture shows both aspects. Then in the chapter 6, he is just hot air (this expression means empty talk in order to impress) , when he says that he was the one who taught how to read to the painter. Here, he tries to present himself as a good teacher to Yoon Seungho. Furthermore, he is overestimating his own skills and he is definitely daydreaming which is connected to the expression “castles in the air”. His aspirations are boundless, he is aiming at the highest position without being competent or even trying to improve himself. He also attempts to air dirty laundry, when he is hunting with Yoon Seungho. He wants to force the lord to admit his lie so that he can criticize him. But here he fails. As you can observe, many expressions with air reflect his personality. However, there is one scene that contrasts to this observation, that’s when he is in his library in the chapter 40. We actually see him at the library in two occasions:

chapter 7 and 40. However only the scene in the chapter 40 is memorable. Therefore I would say that he is linked to two spaces: open air and closed room like the library. It seems strange that Jung In-Hun is linked to a world with no boundary and the opposite, a closed room. Actually, it is quite simple. The outside signifies that he is actually empty and superficial behind his smile. He is so fake hence he has no real personality. Besides, since there is no limit, then it can also signify that he has no conscience as he knows no boundary. Furthermore, it also illustrates that he has no past and no trauma too. Finally, it also indicates that he will never change, there will be no transformation and as such no progression. Air remains air. Yet he only shows his true thoughts in a closed door in the chapter 40. His words there are suffocating the poor boy, that’s the reason why Baek Na-Kyum is left speechless. (Chapter 40) He can’t breathe properly. Since there is no view and no door to the outside visible in the drawing, we have to imagine this reflects his narrow-mindedness. He is surrounded by books (see the pictures from the chapter 7) therefore he lacks real experience and knowledge. He is literally buried behind his books, therefore his knowledge is superficial. (Chapter 27) Even in his bedroom there are books so his own bedchamber gives the readers a suffocating feeling. Since there is no window visible in his room and the library, there is no fresh air in the closed room which explains why it is asphyxiating. Usually, we say in a closed room that it smells musty. He only knows the world through his books and the moral standards. He is not even opened to the outside, only his words and thoughts count. Everything else has no value hence there is no life next to him. People living by his side will end up suffocated as he doesn’t allow them to breathe. He is stubborn and he will never change, a fake, empty and narrow-minded man with no conscience. Because of this connection, I realized that Jung In-Hun had no future in Hanyang. He would end up buried, and this became a reality. Because the moment he left for the capital, he ended up dead. And now, if you think carefully, you will recognize that the learned sir is associated to nature! Thus he was seen in the woods (chapter 6, 22) or in the countryside admiring the moon. (Chapter 70) Air means also breathing! Hence he represents the fresh air entering Yoon Seungho‘s bedroom, hence we had such a scene: (chapter 35) The lord witnessed the intimate interaction between the learned sir and the artist, thus he was incited to leave the bedroom. Strangely, we could say that he was the initiator for the lord‘s liberation. No wonder, why Kim wished to get rid of the learned sir in the end, and just viewed the artist as less annoying and evil!

So the moment he left the domain, the admired sir was confronted by reality. His stay in the mansion had made him dream (Chapter 18) so that he ended up letting his guard down. He was not so competent and intelligent like Yoon Seungho, he relied more on the stupidity on others. He could deceive commoners, but not spies. In my first version, I had envisioned that the learned sir had many tricks up his sleeves so he would survive, but I had not realized that he had met a fake servant (chapter 37) definitely a noble who could see through him. For me, it was the pedophile himself. I had predicted that he would disappear into thin air, and it became a reality, especially if my theory about his assassination is correct. We could see the transformation of the scholar into a ghost, (chapter 50) who would come to haunt the couple because of his resent. (Chapter 98) As the air, he became a spirit! And note that the lord was encouraged to stroll too!

Painter Of The Night: Seungho’s weaknesses

June 14, 2020July 4, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 6 Comments

After reading the title, you are probably thinking that this analysis will be about his tragic past. But no… not really, as my focus will be what makes the lord happy and unhappy. As you know, weakness can be negative or positive, like for example chocolate is my weakness and as such many weaknesses are connected to the low-born. Thus I chose different scenes as illustration for my affirmations concerning this topic.

Right from the start, we can observe how Baek Na-Kyum’s face become Seungho’s first and important weakness. He is literally glued to the painter’s face, in particular his hair and his eyes. That’s why in chapter 1, the noble is willing to lower himself and touch his face the moment he sees the painter crying.

Look how gentle and caring he is in this situation, although they have just met. He acts in a similar manner in chapter 26 after the forced sex. He doesn’t like it, when the painter is crying so much.

Here he does show some concern again with the same tenderness. Moreover, the image of the painter’s face full of tears (from the chapter 1) left a deep impression on the main lead so that while having sex with Jihwa at the pavilion, he remembers the artist’s visage. (chapter 3). Fact is that he is so drawn to his face that he can’t help himself to caress the lips or cheek (e. g. chapter 12)

or the hair (chapter 16)

(chapter 35). As you can observe, the master is so attracted by the painter’s beautiful head and face that he always looks at him and even feels the need to touch him. Furthermore, the seme made sure that the commoner would keep his pretty visage without a scar that’s why the former asked Kim to put the ointment directly on his lips after the straw mat beating. This signifies that he even ordered medicine for a simple commoner outlining that Seungho was willing to do anything as he was attracted to his face. And let us not forget that this happened before the seme and the uke made love. The obsession for his face is also confirmed directly by the noble, when in the chapter 31, the protagonist declares that he knows that Baek Na-Kyum has been attracted to him.

This is a proof that his eyes were literally fixed on the artist all the time, even when he was having sex with others. I sense that the eyes are the biggest attraction for the main lead which I will explain further later.

I believe that beauty is not just the only explanation for his fascination. Baek Na-Kyum is so transparent which the noble feels refreshing. Despite the lies and the insolence, Yoon Seungho is capable to perceive the young man’s innocence. Everything in him is exuding sincerity. However, even if the low-born is so easy to read, as time passed on, he becomes the biggest puzzle to solve. Even at some point, Seungho has reached the point that he has to admit that he can’t win this guy over. Imagine, the powerful and fearless lord was almost defeated by such a pure commoner. Why does he find his transparency so interesting? It is related to the world and society he grew up with. All the nobles we saw are or were scheming and manipulative. His so called friends like Min made the “suggestion” to Jihwa to kill the “lover” and the red-haired noble Jihwa played a trick on Baek Na-Kyum by damaging a painting. Then the teacher Jung In-Hun is so fake that he copied more or less a poem from a famous poet and finally his own father betrayed him too. He experienced treachery from his closest relative hence he mistrusts nobility generally. That’s why he doesn’t care about standard morals and etiquette as they are fake. Yoon Seungho is very cautious with people from the same social status, since he has got used to their fakings and schemes. The lord had already felt the naturality and genuineness in those paintings, then he experienced it again with the painter. The latter stands in opposition to the nobles Seungho mingles.

But the lord is not just weak in front of the artist’s face, eyes and his purity, he has a softness for his reddening and tears. Unlike Jihwa who hides his feelings and thoughts behind his closed eyes, his smiles and his rude remarks, Seungho is able to see honest and natural emotions on someone’s face for the first time. As you can observe, the facial expressions are another reason why Seungho fell for the genuine artist. He is able to see that Baek Na-Kyum can’t control his emotions and thoughts. For the first time, our seme is confronted with real emotions through the facial expressions and the gaze. And it definitely helps him to reconnect to his own feelings which had been repressed for so long. Therefore as the story evolves, the more expressions the lord is able to make: he smiles more (chapter 12)/ (chapter 35), his eyes are shining or if he is so angry, his gaze gets so dark.

It was as if his eyes became weapons so that he would kill someone with them. (chapter 30). The beholder is witnessing more and more expressions coming from the lord, while he was so detached in the beginning, when he was sitting in his room looking out of the window. Through Baek Na-Kyum, our seme learns to discover his inner emotions, that’s why we can say that the uke serves as a mirror unconsciously. The eyes were definitely working as a mirror. Baek Na-Kyum showed his sadness, true desires, anger, happiness and thankfulness… a full range of different emotions. But our seme needed to learn how to control them as he had not been used to feel anything for a long time.

But let’s return to the observation mentioned above. Seungho falls for Baek Na-Kyum’s blushing. Each time, he sees the man reddening because of him, he is happy or feels better, just like in the chapter 35.

Although he was terribly fatigued, he couldn’t restrain himself from smiling, when he saw (chapter 35) the painter’s reaction. I could use the scene in chapter 39 as another example. In that scene below, he hears from the low-born that he is blushing because of him.

That’s why he starts teasing him. So this blushing is first connected to his face and secondly to his honesty, which reinforces the idea that the face as such plays a huge part in his falling in love.

The other weakness is that simple words coming from Baek Na-Kyum have a great impact on the protagonist. He is so affected by his comments that he behaves differently. First, he is truly bothered by Baek Na-Kyum’s critic, when the latter reminded him that he was just a man consumed by lust. (chapter 5) Hence he can’t even have sex with Jihwa the same day. Let us not forget that these words were told the day before and the noble had not taken these too seriously. However, this time the critic is not said because the uke is upset but because he is serious. During their exchange, the low-born is trying to say the opposite: he is not a man consumed by lust. So he is lying, yet as I mentioned before, the lies are so transparent that they are no real lies. In other words, the uke didn’t realize that he was in reality reproaching the man to be obsessed with sex. The innocent reminder did the trick. Seungho has now something to think deeply.

Then we have this terrible scene in the bathroom (chapter 26), where Baek Na-Kyum is brutally honest with the lord. While the latter tried to put the blame on the artist that everything happened, because he had accepted the proposal and mistaken him for the teacher, then the low-born replies with such a honesty that Seungho can no longer hide from the truth:

He dares to tell the tyrannical master that he is the one responsible and deep down, the lord knows that he is right. Remember that he didn’t respond to the kiss immediately in chapter 20. Look now how shocked the noble is. His honesty makes it impossible to reply. He is left speechless. No one has ever dared to be so frank and he knows that deep down he can not deny it. Then Baek Na-Kyum yells at him how much he hates him.

This triggers the lord to grab his sword and announce him that he is about to kill someone.

He doesn’t even need to give the identity of the future victim. As you can observe, Baek Na-Kyum’s words have such a power over the lord. He can’t help but react to these reproaches or critics. If we compare this confrontation to the one with Jihwa, we can perceive a huge difference. Seungho is always able to reply and even have the final words, whereas it is not the case with Baek Na-Kyum. And in each time, the painter’s gaze played a huge part in it. Here, he could see the hatred reflecting in these eyes and he couldn’t bear looking at them any longer. He had no response to this harsh reply. Then the most important scene where the beholder can witness the power of Baek Na-Kyum’ s words is in chapter 41. While crying, he begs the lord to leave him alone. He uses the imperative twice so he acts as if he has the upper hand. He gets so upset that he ends up yelling at him.

Furthermore, with his words he is rejecting the lord’s presence. However, Seungho kept holding his hand and forced the young man to show his face because he wanted to see his eyes and facial expressions. Pay attention to the first facial expression when he observes the painter crying.

He is honestly worried and must feel the urge to console him. That’s why he wants to look at the painter’s face because he knows that his facial expressions will reveal the cause of his distress that’s why he refused to listen to him. Here, he acts like a lover full of concern for the painter. However, the way he is rejected upsets the master. I believe the slap was triggered for two reasons. Until chapter 41, we always saw the protagonist being very lenient towards the uke’s boldness. By reminding him of his status, Baek Na-Kyum can’t push the man away. As you see, he used the slap as a way to stay by the painter’s side. Furthermore the reproach Baek Na-Kyum expressed that he did everything he wanted. He was following his order: he painted as requested. However, Seungho was no longer interested in the paintings. He is longing for the commoner’s love. So here again, the noble is reminded of their actual situation. The painter is just an employee hired by him. The words Baek Na-Kyum screamed provoked a certain reaction: he used his status in order to be able not to follow the painter’s wish, besides the uke’s words did reflect the truth. They had a master-servant relationship. On the other hand, the lord wanted to comfort him in the beginning, until he saw the picture of In-Hun and comes to a different conclusion. He believes initially that it is related to the departure of the teacher, then that the painter has been asked to sleep with the lord on In-Hun’s request.

The other weakness is Baek Na-Kyum’s erection. The rich man is desperate to be the cause of his erection. Hence he tries to stimulate him in chapter 31.

The expression “for me” at the end of the sentence emphasizes the expectation of the noble. He wants to be the cause of his sexual desires. Now, you can understand why the lord was so happy to see that the commoner had an erection because of him in the chapter 36. We all know that the real trigger for his erection is the aphrodisiac but if he hadn’t been sexually aroused by the lord before, I doubt that this would have ever happened.

That’s why he is smiling with this erection. He is still careful in this chapter because he knows about the weak constitution of painter but he is very insecure about Baek Na-Kyum. He has no idea how he could improve their relationship. So the erection helps him to provoke pleasure in his sex partner. He knows that it is important for the uke to feel ecstasy so that he will be accepted as his partner.

In other words, Baek Na-Kyum seems to be his weakness: his face, his eyes, his facial expressions, his words and his genuineness are the causes why he fell hard for the painter. But this is not the end. The protagonist has other weaknesses which were revealed in the first season: the shaking hand, the nightmare and the insomnia. They are all mostly related to his family and past. Striking is that only Baek Na-Kyum is able to witness all these reactions. He saw the exhausted face in the chapter 35, (chapter 35) indicating a certain lack of sleep, then the shaking hand with the fist,

while the lord was talking in a confident manner in front of his brother Seung-Won. He is definitely hurt by the request from his brother because he is reminded of his own past. Yet he can’t reveal anything: his own suffering and what really happened back then. He has to suppress everything and the shaking hand with the fist outlines the resent and frustration. Finally, he asks the young man to sleep with him. He hugs him in his sleep, however he seems to suffer from a nightmare.

Yet he has to hide all of this in front of his servants and other nobles because this could be used against him. He is not allowed to reveal his vulnerability. I come to the conclusion that his hidden vulnerability represents another weakness.

Yet, though the painter has become the biggest weakness for Yoon Seungho who fell in love with him, I believe that he will become his biggest strength. Yoon Seungho will be forced to leave his lethargy behind and even to meddle with politics and officials, since Baek Na-Kyum has been able to evoke true protective instincts. Therefore the weaknesses I listed above are actually positive aspects. All of this proves the deepness of the master’s affection. This is not just a physical relationship.

On the other hand, it seems that the lord’s vulnerability will be one of the reasons for Baek Ny-Kyum to fall in love with the lord. First, he was already attracted to him right from the start. Secondly, he noticed the straightforwardness of the lord. He never deceived him (even with the warnings and the blackmail) so that at some point he even started listening to his words. Because of him, he starts questioning the teacher’s true intentions. He has finally accepted to be by Yoon Seungho’s side. I also think that in the second season, Baek Na-Kyum will discover new sides from the lord: his intelligence and education. I am even expecting that Yoon Seungho teachs the uke himself how to read and write so that he can be called “learned sir” and replaces the teacher totally.

Protected: Painter Of The Night: Jihwa, chronicle of the foretold death of a childhood friend? (second version)

May 29, 2020June 12, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33

Painter of The Night: Yoon Seungho: A tragic figure or a hell-raiser ? (second version)

April 18, 2020June 12, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 8 Comments

The seme, Yoon Seungho, in this story is introduced with this expression “a hell-raiser” by the uke Baek Na-Kyum. The latter has heard about Seungho’s bad reputation. Strangely, the more chapters we read, the more we realize that our main lead is different from what he appears to be.
What caught my attention while reading this manhwa was the way Seungho stands, when he interacts with people. First of all, as a wealthy and influential noble, he sits far away from the others, not just from the servants. There is always some distance or a table between him and the others. Let me show you a few examples.

In the chapter 12, Jihwa visits the main lead without any appointment. In this scene, notice that Jihwa doesn’t sit next to the seme but in front of him. This underlines the gap between Seungho’s status and Jihwa. Furthermore, there is no physical contact between them at all. Even Seungho is looking outside the window, while talking to Jihwa, that’s how he sees Baek Na-Kyum and decides to go to him. In other words, although Jihwa is physically closer to Seungho, the reader can sense the existence of an invisible wall between him and Jihwa.

Chapter 12, Seungho drinking tea with Jihwa on the right

But this doesn’t happen just once. Even after the long night spent with BNK who got so sick, we see Seungho sitting in the center of the room after a sex orgy and it was as if his sex partners would be below him, as if they were all standing at his feet. In this chapter (33), they are all asking for BNK’s presence… their request underlines the special status Seungho has over them. At the end, Seungho decides to leave the room which shows that Seungho is no pushover and makes sure to maintain the distance between him and his sex partners.

This contrasts so much to the interaction between Seungho and BNK. Right from the start, there is no gap and distance. Remember the first chapter where Seungho took BNK’s hands and even let him touch his own loin. Later, you see him always touching the painter’s face. However, there is one scene that caught my eye, it is in the chapter 16. Jihwa and Seungho had just a sex session and Seungho decides to go to BNK’s side.

Notice the contrast between Seungho’s behavior in the chapter 12 and here. Seungho is not even closing his robe, he even lays down next to the painter. And he keeps asking questions. He is very relaxed in opposition to the scene where he is drinking some tea. The way he is dressed contrasts so much: his robe is loose and open, while he is well-dressed with Jihwa. While he maintains an air of nobility and oozes mind control in the chapter 12, here he gives the impression of cheerfulness. It was as if he was playing as he has BNK’s hairband in his hand and keeps looking at it. Notice the huge opposition: Seungho is lying on the ground next to the painter, while with Jihwa he was sitting in front of him. This gives an explanation why Jihwa is furious and jealous. Seungho has never really rushed to go to his side, he even ignores Jihwa who is about to leave.
This behavior outlines Seungho’s curiosity for the painter and his wish to be close to his idol. He definitely shows an interest towards BNk, while he remains quite indifferent to Jihwa and the others. In this scene, there is intimacy and closeness and this is no coincidence that the noble calls the painter Na-Kyum while whispering. He is quite intimate and reveals his need to close the gap between him and the painter. In other words, Seungho has a different attitude towards the painter. While he maintains a gap between him and his sex partners, he is doing the opposite with BNK. He is not indifferent but curios and quite cheerful. He even smiles.

This closeness and intimacy is even underlined one more time, when Seungwon, Seungho’s younger brother, pays him a visit. The latter announced him that their father was ill and our seme should pay him a visit. Although the painter is a low-born, he is actually sitting next to Seungho’s side, while the brother is facing him. This shows that Baek Na-Kyum is even closer to him than his own family. He let the painter hide his face, yet he didn’t even ask him to be dressed. (chapter 37:

The painter is even turning his back to the brother which shows a certain disrespect, nonetheless this was certainly ordered by our lord.

Then after this scene, Seungho shared his bed with Baek Na-Kyum for the first time. The lord was even hugging the painter and let us not forget that he always sent his sex partners right away after their love session. Striking is that both chapters 16 and 37 have something in common: the lord is the one pleasuring the low-born and not the other way around. So, here the lord shows rather an “inferior” position, although from his social status he is above Baek Na-Kyum. This indicates that the social norms have disappeared.

Then I observed another phenomenon. I noticed that Seungho was often shown in front of a window (chapter 12, chapter 44) or under a roof (chapter 19 :

chapter 30 :

while he keeps watching BNK who is standing outside. It appears to me that the author has an intention with Seungho’s position. I get the feeling that Seungho had stopped living after the incident with the topknot and the purgery. In the chapters mentioned above, the noble witnesses:
-the disappointment of BNK, when In Hun hears that he was invited due to the deal with the paintings.
– the departure of In Hun from his room, just like he looks at BNK returning from the gate.
– how BNK leaves his bedroom after the punishment.

Striking is that Seungho shows two different kind of behaviors:
– he remains passive and indifferent on the surface but can’t help thinking about the painter

– he rushes to BNK’s side (chapter 12, 30)

and touches him right away. He grabs his wrist, or touches his head… there is always this physical contact which Yoon Seungho never has even outside their sex sessions. Usually, he acts like that, when he is upset and very emotional. In other words, BNK is able to change Seungho, as the former ignites reactions from Seungho. My interpretation is the following: The noble only watches life from his window, meddles more and more in people’s life due to BNK. Remember that after meeting Seungwon, it looks like Seungho sent a painting of himself with his sex partners to his father. So far, he had ignored his father and his brother.
The lord is less and less indifferent. I have the feeling that for the first time, he is no longer feeling empty. Even after the rape, he can’t help looking for BNK in the bathroom. He is angry, feels guilty and jealous. The violence of his emotions can only be explained by the fact that Seungho felt nothing for so long. He is not able to control his emotions, and this illustrates that Seungho is no longer an indifferent, passive and emotionless person, quite the opposite. Seungho needs to learn to control his emotions, something he forgot. And you can observe that as time passes on, Seungho is able to show more and more affection. The so-called loyal servant Kim told BNK that Seungho had mood swings, which I explain so. Seungho could be either violent and ruthless or indifferent/broody. When he killed the servant, he showed no fear, no remorse… he just did it without feeling anything, though his face lets transpire sadness. While killing the domestic, the lord tried not to take it to heart. But his violence has nothing to do with emotions first, only when Seungho started interacting with the painter. In the first chapter, the noble had even announced that he would kill someone, which outlines his lack of emotions and empathy. And this shows that his brutality is not inherent to Yoon Seungho. His violent outbursts are also linked to his suppressed anger and rage due to his past trauma, as he was forced to accept his fate. Hence he started cutting himself from emotions… but in reality, he was like a dormant volcano, and his eruptions were caused by BNK’s reactions.

From my point of view, Seungho is starting to live for real, and the sex he had before was a way for him to pass time. This would also explain why Seungho had problems with erections before (he needed to be prepared, to have replenishing medicine and even the erotic books in order to get a reaction). This also explains why Seungho refuses to join In Hun in reality. He has been detached from the world for so long, he has no interest in politics and whatsoever. However, I sense that Seungho will be forced to act outside his courtyard in the long run. Being indifferent and detached from the outside world, is not right, as we can see that Jihwa is about to have BNK killed and In Hun might try to hurt BNK in order to weaken Seungho. In Hun has not forgotten the humiliation and I am quite sure, he wants a payback for that. Seungho will be forced to handle.
At the end of this season, Seungho remains passive and indifferent on the surface, yet his gaze never leaves BNK and even with In Hun, he thinks about him. He is no longer a robot, but a human being seeking for love and recognition. He knows that BNK has given up on his crush hence he feels much more confident than before that’s why he mentions BNK to In Hun before the latter leaves for the capital.

But now, you are wondering why Yoon Seungho became such an distant, passive and rather indifferent man, who was feeling rather empty. I mentioned before that Yoon Seungho was suffering from a past trauma. His loyal servant once told our uke that the lord had a tragic and painful past. However, we don’t know anything specific. The reader is just aware that the son is estranged from the father. While reading the manhwa for a third time, I came to the following theory. Naturally, there is no guarantee that this theory is the story imagined by Byeonduck.

From the start, Seungho was not a sodomite but due to the discovered conspiracy, the father decided to have his son to take the blame in order to escape the purge and divert attention. He created the rumor that Seungho was a sodomite and put on a show. This would explain why the father dishonored his son in such a ostentative way: cutting off the topknot which is not just a humiliation but also symbolizes a castration. Another possibility is that the father somehow “sold” his eldest son in order to escape the purge so that Yoon Seungho got raped by a higher-up official. Both theories have in common that the father betrayed his eldest son for his own survival and in order to ensure that his son would never reveal their connection to the conspiracy, he ruined his son’s reputation by declaring him a sodomite and cutting him the topknot. Why not a sodomite from the start? (sorry for the repetition)

We shouldn’t forget that we heard the lord drinks a lot replenishing medicine, which is an aphrodisiac. Now, Baek Na-Kyum is drinking the same thing and notice his reaction: he was hard… The servant was helping his master this way. Notice how happy Seungho was, when he noticed Na-Kyum’s reaction. Seungho was just writing and Na-Kyum was already reacting. Secondly, we read from Jihwa that the latter always had to prepare Seungho (blowjob) in order to get aroused. (chapter 3)

Finally, right in the first chapter, Seungho confessed that only with Baek Na-Kyum’s book, he could get aroused right away. (chapter 1)
This would explain why Seungho resents his father and said to Seungwon that he was living by the father’s principle… which is living as a sodomite because his father ruined his reputation and life. The father betrayed the son, when he declared him a sodomite. With this move, the father made it impossible for the son to become an official with a high position.

But now, I would like to add new aspects. Actually, Seungho was not sent away because he was a sodomite. It was actually the opposite. The family left the domain and went to the countryside, leaving Seungho behind. And this new detail is quite important… it was as if the father wanted Seungho to become the head of the family Yoon and if the authorities decided to punish Yoon’s family, then Seungho would have become the target. Since the father had left the property to his son, if the police had come to arrest Yoon, then the family could have said that Seungho was the one responsible as he was living in the courtyard, but the family had cut ties with him as he was a sodomite. In other words, not only the father humiliated his son but he also tried to turn him into a real scapegoat. The father thought that Seungho would be the one to take the fall. Furthermore, while the family left, it is said that all the servants were replaced which is a clue that all of them were killed. And I have the impression that Seungho was forced to get rid of them if he wanted to survive. With no witness, Seungho could survive the purge, however he couldn’t kill the loyal servant who had been by his side all this time.

As conclusion, since the family left the family domain, it means, the father not only pushed all responsibilities on his eldest son Seungho but wanted to sacrifice him. The latter was the one who had to dirty his hand in a way to survive. That’s why he is suffering from insomnia and has often nightmares. This is much more terrible than what I wrote a few days ago. This explains why Seungho really hates his father and had his hand shaking, when the younger brother mentioned the father’s illness. With Seungwon’s visit, it becomes clear that the father has decided that it is time to return to the family domain hence if Seungho visits his father, this represents a reconciliation and marks the return of the Yoon. Since the brother smiled, while receiving the letter, it looks like it was a good sign for the father. At least, Seungho wrote a letter to the father… I can imagine that during all this time, Seungho ignored his family that’s why he never replied to the brother’s letter. I can imagine that the father is asking for a visit and will ask that Seungho helps his brother to become an official. I even suspect that since the father has been so cruel and selfish, that he wants from Seungho another sacrifice. Since Seungho has a bad reputation as a sodomite, he can not become an official, the father ruined his life. However, I have the impression that Seungho might have been close to the deceased grandfather who had a high position in the government. Jihwa mentioned like some others that the Yoon family was declining. The reason is that no one after the grandfather took up a government post, like Seungho mentioned it to In Hun in the chapter 6.

And here is another speculation from my side. Since according to Yoon Seungho, the father never had a position, it looks like the young man has either repressed that his prostitution helped his father to get a high position, or he has no idea that his father sold him as courtesan for his own career. We know for sure that father Yoon had a high position and was forced to resign. (chapter 37)

I was wondering if the grandfather considered his own son as not suited for a high government post, and wanted his grandson to follow his footsteps. Besides, I had the impression that there’s some secret behind Yoon Seungho’s birth, which would explain why his official father truly loathed him. When Yoon Seungho lost his position as courtesan, because he was framed for an incident, the father used this opportunity to save his skin and get rid of his own son: create the rumor, he was a sodomite, cut off his topknot and leave the domain to Seungho so that he would take the fall. Though the protagonist is smart and cunning, he has never perceived father Yoon’s actions and motivations, for he was always longing for recognition and love. Besides, the long exposure to physical and sexual abuse could only ruin the main lead’s sanity.

But now time has passed on, and the father wants his younger son Seungwon to become an official which would underline one more time the disdain and even hatred between the father and Seungho. (chapter 37) However, I doubt that Seungho will accept all of this, especially after having been put through all of this. Besides, he will want to protect Baek Na-Kyum. Remember that Seungho decided to take his responsibilities towards the painter. He took Na-Kyum’s virginity which the painter had reserved for the loved one and latter he put the red point on his forehead symbolizing that he was his bride. (chapter 40)

And this would explain why at the end of the season 1, it is revealed that the father received an erotic painting of Seungho having sex with 2 men. (Chapter 44) The eldest son is showing the father the consequences of his past actions. He is a notorious sodomite with no boundary and the father is responsible for this. This gesture illustrates that the young master doesn’t want to reconcile with his own father. Yoon Seungho definitely wants to hurt and infuriate his father. It was as if Seungho was saying: “See… this is what I have become due to you!!” On the other hand, the delivery of the ruined painting was orchestrated by the butler without the main lead‘s knowledge. (Chapter 37)

As conclusion, Yoon Seungho seems to be more a tragic figure, especially if my theory is true. The way he had been living was a way to cope his own traumas and suffering.

And this interpretation was confirmed in the second season: he got raped, then drugged and gangraped to finally become the king’s courtesan.

Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoy reading it, retweet it or push the button like (tumblr- reddit- Instagram- Twitter account: @bebebisous33). Thanks for reading and the support.

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